Soul Bond
by Poisoned Scarlet
Summary: "We can't just do this because you think it might somehow improve our soul bond. You have to... want it." He fisted his hand, staring at the dusty floor. "You have to trust me."
1. Painless

**Soul Bond  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlet_

**Summary: **"We can't just do this because you think it might somehow improve our soul bond. You have to... _want it_." He fisted his hand, staring at the dusty floor. "You have to trust me."**  
Rating: **M for sexual situations/themes.  
**Genre: **Romance/Humor.  
**Pairing: **Soul/Maka.  
**Authors Note: **I'm not going all the way with this. No lemon, just light lime. I just thought it had to be rated M for mature themes...**  
Story Note: **_I got this idea after reading Soul Eater Vol 4. There's a drawing of a small book falling out of the bag Blair bought the lingerie in and I could just imagine Maka picking it up, reading it, subsequently scarring herself, one day...  
_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater.

* * *

"Whoa..." She trailed off, rolling on her back, immersed in the small book in her hand. The clock on her nightstand read _10:53 pm _and the frostbitten wind outside pounded on her tightly shut window harshly. But all she did was wiggle down the bed and draw in the curtains with her toes, eyes glued on the text.

She never knew sex actually had a process.

She would admit she wasn't the most experienced player in the game but she _did_ know the basic functions of sex. She knew it _felt _good (or so Blair and Liz had told her) and she knew it was the most intimate of rituals up to date – almost matching Soul Resonance although Maka thought sex would be more intimate, for the sole reason that she didn't feel like hiding herself from Soul whenever they were tightly bond by resonance but she felt extremely self-conscious just walking into the living room, where he usually dwelled in during the evenings.

But this small _book –_ the blasted book her _papa _had bought her, along with lewd lingerie which had been given to her by Blair around a year ago – explained that sex was more than just a 'hit it and quit it' type of deal, as everyone said nowadays.

It was an art.

A beautiful art.

Maka analytically gazed at the illustrations, reading the small text that lined below. Some of the positions looked difficult and impossible, others just plain weird, but the objective of each was to produce unimaginable pleasure.

_Kama... Sutra..._

That was the books title.

It originated in India, from what she could infer.

And they were freakin' _brilliant_, as she rolled on her stomach and flipped a page. She was nearly done with it and she was eager to finish it despite herself. She supposed it _would _be odd for someone like her to be so interested in such a taboo topic but Maka was more intrigued by the fact that, as the little side-notes mentioned, _soul bonding_ (thus soul resonance) reached its strongest point after such an experience...

_Sex can... actually make me stronger?_

The sentence sounded so wrong in so many ways but it made sense.

To even go through such a feat, you needed someone you truly trusted.

Maka didn't think she'd let herself be touched by _anyone..._

Except Soul.

She shot up in bed, mouth slack with the realization.

She had never felt quite comfortable among other men. The only other boys she didn't mind were Kid and Black Star, perhaps Ox and Harvar and the school faculty, but any new male that came down her path was mostly avoided or kept at a distance until she could deem him harmless.

But Soul was on an _entire _different platform than every other boy – he was _at the top_. He was the only one she'd trust with her life, her soul, and, apparently, _her body._

Maka shut the book, a few pages left to read still, with cheeks flaring red. She knew she wasn't much to look at, even though she _at least _managed to grow a big enough chest so no one could mistake her a boy, but she wasn't Blair or Tsubaki or Liz or Patty.

She was Maka.

And she could honestly say she wasn't _much_.

Drab ashy blonde hair, seemingly empty green eyes, conservative collared shirts matched with regular plaid skirts, silver-strapped combat boots... she was all over the place.

She wasn't necessarily 'boring' but not 'exciting', either.

She was...in the middle?

No.

She didn't even _rate _on the scale.

Maka flipped through the book idly, glancing at some of the positions illustrated on the pages, choosing out her favorites absently, and wondering if she'd ever find someone she could even _try _it with... more blood stained her cheeks, as she forced her thoughts to take this scientifically... but Soul was the only candidate now, sadly...

"Ugh! No, he's not!" Maka hissed under her breath, clutching the book tightly in her hands. "Who'd want that jerk, anyway?" Maka knew the answer to that: _a lot of girls_. It was probably another thing to consider: Soul was cool, even cooler now that they were older. And with cool came popularity. Soul had entire _blocks_ of girls ready to lose their virginity to him at a seconds notice.

Tall girls, short girls, curvacious girls... all types of girls.

Maka felt that bitterness bubble in her stomach; climb up her throat and sear her chest. She sat up and scooted against her headboard, drawing her legs up to rest her chin on her knees. She didn't have that many suitors – if any at all, actually. She hadn't very much thought about going on dates or getting a boyfriend – she had been more concerned with converting Soul into a Death Scythe and becoming stronger in the process; to try and defeat evil witches like Medusa while trying to combat the black blood that ran through both her and Soul's bodies...

Her life had been too hectic one and a half years ago.

Now that it calmed down a little, she was at a loss for her next goal.

Maka was the type of girl who needed an ambition; something to keep her going even when things got rough. Turning Soul into a Death Scythe was _still_ a goal that needed to be reached but having side-goals wasn't a bad thing. It helped distract her when she reached a road block. But she guessed having the ambition 'find a person, male, who she can trust enough to have sex with' wasn't a very ethical goal to have in mind...

But finding someone to test _that_ _theory_ of strengthening ones soul responses', and how it affected Soul Resonance, was...

Maka sighed.

She'd need to find someone she trusted unconditionally either way; someone who was also a _weapon _to test the Soul Resonance part...

And only one person fit the criteria at the moment.

The door creaked open and Soul stuck his head in, calling: "I bought take-out!" and watching his meister sluggishly nod and toss the book on the rumpled bedsheets.

"What'd you buy?" Maka asked, walking past him while he followed.

"Chinese." Soul shrugged. "It's the only type that's still open at eleven."

"Well, you're lucky I'm in the mood for Chinese!" Maka smiled over her shoulder, taking out the Styrofoam packet from the bag and opening it. Wrinkling her nose when she smelled shrimp rolls, she figured that was Soul's and slid the box to him, watching him dig around the plastic bag and take out a plastic fork before digging into his meal.

Maka's own meal had all her favourite's and she happily sat down to start her late dinner. It had been Soul's turn to cook but Maka didn't mind eating take out every once in a while – although she rather _did_ enjoy Soul's cooking. It wasn't as bad as many people thought it was.

"Hey, Black Star asked if we wanted to come with him on some new mission he's taking tomorrow." Soul asked, slurping up some noodles. "Wanna' go?"

Maka frowned. "What type of mission?"

"Something easy." Soul answered vaguely. "He just told me Sid gave him the assignment after school and allowed him to bring someone along. I think it's one of those special remedial lessons or something... he's failed way too many classes to get out of it." He snickered.

Maka snorted. "Serves him right. Tsubaki's passing all of her classes – it's not all that hard to copy from her!"

Soul rose an impressed brow. "I thought you were against cheaters."

"I _am_." Maka swallowed her food, adding loftily: "But Black Star's such a moron he has no other choice!"

Soul busted out laughing, as she drank from the can of soda Soul had set out for her.

The front door was thrown open and Maka looked up to see Blair bouncing in happily, for once not dressed scantily but in a long black coat with high-heeled boots. She had a few bags in her arms and Maka had reason to believe the magical cat had gone out shopping before coming home.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be at work right now?" Soul asked, glancing at the clock. She usually worked all night and slept all day.

"Nya~! Blair has the day off tonight!" She rose her bags, shaking them in his face smugly. Soul just rolled his eyes. "So Blair went shopping! Ooh, and I got this pretty skirt for Maka-chan!" Blair excitedly rushed to Maka, digging around some bags to take out a _short _leather skirt. "You'd look so cute it in it, Maka-chan! Do you like it?"

Maka placed her fork down, taking the skirt from her and eying the length. It was definitely shorter than her usual red plaid skirt, which was saying something, and Maka had a feeling she'd have to stand perfectly straight if she wanted no one to catch a glimpse of her underwear... "I don't know Blair, isn't it a little too short?"

Blair giggled, waving her hand dismissively. "Of course not! Of course not! It's _just right_!"

"Does it even fit me?" Maka muttered.

"If it doesn't, Blair can adjust it using her magic!" Blair waved a finger around, winking at her. "But I think I got your size right!"

"I guess you can also fix the length if it's too short..." Maka reasoned, surveying the skirt. It wasn't bad – it was actually pretty nice. She liked the sew-like design that traced straight up the side of the skirt...

"Mmhmm!" Blair beamed. She clasped her hands together happily. "Ooh! Put it on now, put it on now!"

Maka groaned. "Blair, it's about to be midnight! Can't I do it tomorrow?"

Blair pouted, putting on her cutest face. "Pwease~? Blair promises to make it longer if it's too short!" She bargained, batting her lashes at the resilient meister.

Maka heaved a sigh and gave into the cats request, lifting herself off her chair with Blair happily cheering behind her. She caught Soul trying to glimpse the leather skirt she held in her hand and she purposely pulled it away from sight; somehow wanting this to be a surprise even though he already knew what it was.

It fit her like a glove.

Maka wondered if Blair had been raiding her things again as she checked herself. It was definitely short, showing more leg than usual, and since it didn't flow out like her school skirt, it accentuated her rear a little too much to be comfortable. And Maka could firmly say that if she even _bent _a little, her underwear would show completely. She could guess how horrifying walking would be...

Blair needed to fix the length.

Maka exited the bathroom, tugging down the leather skirt irately. "Hey, Blair, could you make it a little longer? It's too short!"

Blair's eyes twinkled deviously. She titled her head to the side, tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth as she surveyed the skirt on her frame. She nodded proudly. "Blair thinks it's okay!"

"But—!"

"Whoa!" Soul braked to a stop, holding an unopened can of soda in his hand. He had come from the refrigerator and missed her entrance. "Wh-what the hell is _that_?" Soul pointed accusingly at her skirt. "That is _way_ too short!"

"I _know_!" Maka snapped, tugging it down a little more with pink cheeks. "But Blair won't make it longer!"

"Blair thinks it's fine..." The devious cat innocently said.

"But _I _don't!" Both Soul and Maka shouted in unison.

"Look!" Maka shook off the strange look she received from Soul. "Just make it longer or I'm not wearing it. I can't even _bend _without this thing showing more than it's supposed to..." Maka tugged on the sides for emphasis.

"Hmm..." Blair snapped her fingers and, without notice, a huge traveling bag came careening towards her.

Her reflexes kicked in.

"ACK!" Maka jerked back, catching the huge traveling bag awkwardly. It was _heavy _as well, so she felt herself fall back before she could stop. Maka ended up tossing the thing to the side and flipping back, landing on her feet unsteadily again and dangerously glaring at Blair, who was giggling madly into her hands. "What the hell was that for, Blair! You could've really hurt me, you know!"

"Blair thinks your right! It _is_ too short!" Blair snorted into her hand, gold eyes shifting slyly to her right, where Soul was adamantly staring to the side, sniffling _very loudly._

"And what's wrong with you?" Maka snapped at Soul, who only kept sniffling. "It's summer, for crying out loud! Don't tell me you caught a summer cold!"

"I'm not sick!" Soul growled, vigorously wiping a hand under his nose. "I'm just... allergic."

"To what?" Maka exasperatedly asked. "Blair's perfume or something?"

"Y-yeah! Blair's perfume!" Soul quickly agreed, sniffling loudly again. "It's making my nose itchy!" His eyes widened when he caught a stain of red on the back of his hand and he made pointed effort in rubbing the blood off on his pants...

"Um..." Maka eyed him suspiciously. He looked too nervous to be telling the truth. She thought she caught the smear of blood on his lip, too. "Are you—?"

"Neh, Maka!" Blair bounced forward, taking her by the shoulder. "I've got this cute little jacket you should try on! It'd complete the outfit, nya~! C'mon! I'll show it to you!"

"Huh? W-wait, no, Blair—!"

Blair ignored her protests and dragged her down the hall and into Soul's room, to the closet where she'd pushed all his clothes out and filled with her own against his will. She dug around for a moment before pulling the jacket out, slipping it onto Maka quickly and admiring her handiwork. "See? Aw, you look so cute, Maka-chan!"

The jacket was leather, too.

Now all the needed was a motocycle—she didn't even _want_ to finish that thought, Soul's monstrous bike parked down in the lot pushed to the farthest recesses of her mind.

Maka groaned. "Blair, I'm not some doll you could just dress up!"

Blair pouted. "You don't like it?"

"No! I-I really like it but—!"

"Then Maka-chan will like this, too!" Blair leaped into her closet once more, digging around for that other piece of clothing to stick on Maka. The girl, however, just glumly looked around the room, eyes landing on the headphones that hung on the post of Soul's bed. She'd like to just put those on and crank up Soul's iPod to some alternative to pass the time but she knew Blair wouldn't let her...

_Kamasutra... _Maka remembered abruptly, going back to her melancholic mood. She was still a virgin in many ways but Blair worked in the most sinful place in all of Death City; a place where sex and temptation was glorified and even paid for. Perhaps she would be able to aid her in this foreign subject. "Hey... Blair?"

"Yes...?"

"Can I ask you a question?" Maka shifted, holding onto her arm self-consciously."It's... something I've been thinking about for a while now... and..." She could trust Blair with these questions, right? The cat could be loyal when she felt like it and since she was complying to her wishes... Blair wouldn't embarrass her, would she?

Maka didn't know how to answer that, as her face warmed.

Blair stopped raiding the closet to face her. Her wide gold eyes blinked curiously, the cat ears she had been too lazy to remove from the top of her head twitching at the nervous and uncertain tone of her friend. "What is it, Maka-chan? You know you can tell Blair your problems, nya~!"

"Do you remember that day a long time ago?" Maka began, quietly. "The day I took the Ultimate Written Exam and papa sent me some... inappropriate clothing?"

Blair nervously laughed. It had curiously _also_ been the day she had splurged and totally wasted the money her friends _papa_ had told her to use to buy said girl a _book_... "Yes, what about it?"

"Well, along with the lingerie, there was this book..." Maka trailed off, Blair's eyes widening at the significance. Yes, it had been the sexual position book she'd bought along with the outfit! Now Blair remembered where she had left it!

"Oh! Yes! What about it?" Blair asked, curiously. "I've been looking for that book!"

"There's this line in it..." Maka said, recalling the words. "It says—!"

"Wait, Maka-chan...you read the book?" Blair deviously grinned, leering down at Maka, who felt her face redden at the cats twinkling gold eyes. "Oh ho ho! My, my, Maka-chan, aren't you a little pervert!" Blair giggled at Maka's indignant splutters, her cheeks a splash of cherry red.

"Blair!" Maka growled. "Focus! This is really important to me!"

Blair swallowed the last of her giggles to answer: "O-okay. Blair will be serious!" She took a deep breath and straightened her face. "There!"

Maka just rolled her eyes. "As I was saying, there's this line in the book that says that through sex one _can_ actually strengthen the bond between a weapon and a meister, therefore increasing resonance rate. Is that true?"

Blair hummed in thought. "I guess. I don't know."

"You've... done it before, right?" Maka hesitantly asked.

"Yep!" Blair nodded. "_Lot's_ of times!" She purred, arching a brow at her.

Maka ignored the look to continue: "You haven't felt it, then?"

"Well..." Blair's eyes dulled little. "I think I felt something like that _once_."

Maka perked up at this. All hope wasn't lost! "Really? When?"

"My first time..." Blair murmured, a little sadly. "I felt complete...when I was with him. And every other time since then. Like there wasn't anything else I needed but him. My magic was at its strongest during those days. I trusted him a lot – he was my first master!" Blair added, gazing at the floor depressingly. "But... he passed away a long time ago..."

Maka bit her lip. "Oh... Blair, I'm so sorry..."

Blair forced a smile on her face. "It's okay! Blair will be fine! Blair has you and Soul now to keep her company!" She fidgeted, obviously not comfortable talking about the first person who owned her. "Blair will be fine as long as she has you two!"

Maka smiled slightly.

"But..." Blair grinned, mischievously. "Does Maka want her first time to be with Soul-kun~?"

"EH!" Maka choked, the faint sound of a head thumping against wood sounding from the bedroom door. "N-_no!_ Who the heck would want to lose it to that jerk, anyway!"

Blair cackled, seeing straight through her lie. "Maka wants to lose it to Soul-kun! Maka wants to lose it to Soul-kun~!"

"I do _not_!" Maka argued weakly, unable to come up with a response to her chant. It was technically true... "I was just wondering if _that_ had anything to do with strengthening the soul! That's all! You can have the dumb book back, too!" Maka shouted, acerbically. "Some of the positions are just ridiculous and physically impossible anyway!"

"Uh huh!" Blair giggled at her red face.

"Whatever!" Maka sighed, face returning back to normal. "I guess I'll just have to ask Professor Stein about it if I _ever_ want to get a straight answer..."

"Maka-chan, asking a teacher about their sex life is harassment, nya? It's like when I'm at work! No one can ask about my private life or who've I've been with before because it goes against code!" Blair laughed at Maka's gaping face.

"I'm not going to _ask _Professor Stein about his-his _sex life!_ Ew! That's just gross!" Maka shuddered, definitely _not _wanting to tread down those waters. "I'm just going to ask him if sex has anything to do with strengthening the bond between weapon and meister or empowering the soul itself! It might be useful for future—!"

"Because Maka wants to lose it to_ Soul-kun~_!" Blair sang. "Ooh! I can't wait to tell Soul-kun! He'll be so happy—!"

"I DO NOT!" Maka shouted, trembling in both embarrassment and rage. "You—just—ugh! Just go to work, Blair!"

"But Blair has the night off—!"

"NOW!" Maka screeched, pointing to the door. Blair zipped out the door with stifled giggles, patting Soul on the head as she did.

But she backtracked, going back to the spot where Soul sat, rubbing his forehead as Blair had slammed the door open right on it. "Oh! And, by the way, Soul-kun!" Blair lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Go in _slowly_ – it _hurts _a lot if you go in too fast, m'kay?"

"Wh-what the hell are you talking about, you bewitching cat!" Soul stuttered, swallowing thickly at her smiling face.

"Maka-chan might be very strong but she is still a girl, m'kay? You have to go _slowly_! She's very delicate! She comes _first_!" Blair winked at his reddening face. "In both senses!"

Soul gaped openly at her audacity, choking out something that resembled "_what the fuck!_" when Blair dropped a single, square, packet that looked an awful lot like a condom in his lap...

"Be safe! Bye bye! Blair shall be back tomorrow!" Blair hurried out of the hall and slammed the front door behind her, Soul staring down the path she had left with his jaw slack.

His fingers curled into tight fists, kicking the packet away from him furiously.

She didn't seem to understand the situation – not like he did.

"...dumb cat... should've taken all her nine lives when I had the chance..." Maka grumbled under her breath, coming out of the room after fixing the mess the persnickety cat had left behind. She paused when she caught Soul sitting on the floor by the door, gazing distractedly across from him. "Soul?"

He didn't respond.

Maka bent, squinting at him. "Soul...? Hello? Earth to Soul Eater—ah!" Maka jerked back when Soul snapped his head up to her, eyes giving her a small glimpse into the conflict he'd been pondering about. But the glimpse was not enough for her to figure out what it was.

"Maka..." He muttered, thoughtfully.

Maka just frowned at him. He had been acting weird the entire evening! "Here, I haven't mopped the floor yet so it's dirty." She extended her hand to him, wondering why he first looked at her, as if trying to figure something out, before he took her hand with a glaze of disillusion in his rogue eyes. "It's late – it's going to be one in the morning." Maka commented, guessing the time so as distract herself from his neutral stare. "If we want to accompany Black Star and Tsubaki on that mission tomorrow, we're going to have to wake up early. You can't sleep in tomorrow, okay?" She finally looked at him, only to look away at the sight of his blank eyes.

"I guess I should let you sleep now..." Maka mumbled, fidgeting with the edge of her short leather skirt. "Goodnight, Soul." She began to walk away, his hand on her wrist stopping her.

"You know..." He started, not bothering to turn to look at her. His voice sounded strained; tight: "I'm down to do just about anything to get stronger along with you."

Maka felt her heart stop in her chest. She swallowed thickly. His hand on her wrist felt like a hot brand...

"Just keep that in mind." He continued, loosening his grip in her wrist. "I'm your weapon – I'm obligated to obey whatever my meister tells me." He looked over his shoulder, a weak grin on his face. "So whatever new 'training' regiment you settle on, count me in."

Maka stared at him, not bothering to hide the shock from her face. She suddenly understood what he had been doing there, on the floor with a slight bump on his forehead, and although she wanted to take out her textbook and smack him on the head repeatedly for eavesdropping, she couldn't because... he was actually _consenting _to her experiment.

He was willing to...

Maka's face warmed and she looked away from him, down the hall where her bedroom door lay, ajar. "O-okay..." She squeaked, clenching her jaw to keep her voice from shaking. "But it's not... really training because it hasn't been proven yet so...it might not even _work_..."

"So?" Soul said, tightening his hand around her wrist again. "You just said it now: it hasn't been proven yet. You might discover a whole new way of strengthening meister-weapon soul bonding without going through all that training..." When she hesitantly glanced at him, he smiled slightly. "Everything starts as an experiment, right?"

Maka laughed softly at his unsure face. "Yeah... What I'm guessing is since _that's _the ultimate way to be intimate physically, it should be able to strengthen our soul bond since once the meister and weapon have total confidence in each other, both spiritually and physically, they should be able to achieve just about anything. We should be able to produce a Soul Resonance of epic proportions because we'd be able to leave behind all—doubts, fears... insecurities..." She hesitated.

Soul nodded in grim understanding. His eyes hardened even more. "_So_..."

"So, _maybe _you might actually be able to surpass papa _right now_." Maka slowly brightened at the idea. "You'd be stronger than papa! _Now_! And then I'll be able to say I beat mama at the age of sixteen!" Maka grinned. The prospect of improving so much she might actually be able to rub it in her papa's face that Soul could beat him, easy, was too delicious to pass up.

He might be a Death Scythe, but he was a pretty _dumb_ one.

She stared seriously at Soul. "... We're doing it. Now."

Soul paled then reddened. "Wh-what? What'd'ya mean _now_?"

"I mean, _now_!" Maka stressed, aware she was in an indecent skirt and her shirt was button up. Soul seemed aware of this too, because his eyes flickered down her body for a moment before darting to the right and flushing even harder.

"W-wait—I'm not ready yet!"

"What—you just told me that you're obligated to obey whatever I say!"

"Because it sounded like a cool thing to say!"

She sighed sharply. "Soul! Do you or do you not?"

"I'm not ready!" He strangled out.

"Don't be such a sissy! It's just se—!"

"NO! Don't say it!"

"Why _not?_" Was he really this immature?

"If you say it, you make it sound... _old._"

"..."

"..."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING OLD? MAKA CHOP!"

"AUGH! I-I didn't... mean—UGH...it...that way..." Soul twitched on the floor, Maka tapping the spine of the book in her hand with a deep scowl. She harrumphed at the groans the boy emitted from his place on the floor, her thoughts a bubbling pot of rage at his ability to screw everything up so epically.

"Humph!" Maka scoffed. "Who would have thought Shibusen's coolest guy would be afraid of a little intimate contact!"

"I'm not afraid! I'm just...not ready..." Soul defended weakly from the floor.

"You always _sound _ready by the way you and Black Star say all those lewd things when you think Tsubaki and I aren't listening!" Maka put him on the spot, shooting him a glare as she pushed her bedroom door open with the heel of her foot.

"Sounding ready is different from actually _being_ ready!" Soul argued, holding his pained head. "I mean... that's a pretty..._big _step..."

"Look!" Maka snapped, clenching her fists to her side. What other reason could it be for Soul to suddenly 'not be ready'? The rejection still hurt even if he agreed to try it with her. "I know I'm not much to look at but-but you want to get stronger, right? And so do I s-so—!"

"It's not that, stupid!" Soul shouted, still lying on the floor; cheek resting against the tiles. "I mean, it isn't just about doing it and hoping for the best. You think it's nothing but it's not, alright? Try to understand what you're asking for a second: how do you think someone does it?"

Maka pressed her lips together, taking it into consideration. The most basic thing that happened was... penetration. But she guessed he was saying to look into the more deeper aspects of such intimate contact? Like...?

"It's not just about seeing if our souls can actually bond... If you want our souls to get stronger, we're going to have to be able to _feel_ it, too."

"What... do you mean by that?" She asked, slowly.

"I mean, you have to _mean_ it, Maka." Soul dropped his voice. The thing he had not allowed himself to consider came back; embittering him. His jaw tightened. Maka was a very logical person and, after hanging out with Stein so much, his experimental influences had finally rubbed off on her. Needless to say, Soul wasn't ready to meaninglessly _lose it. _He would mean it, but would _she_ mean it? "We can't just do this because you think it might somehow improve our soul bond. You have to... _want it_." He fisted his hand, staring at the dusty floor. "You have to trust me."

"I do trust you."

His eyes widened.

Maka fiddled with the knob on the door, swallowing thickly. She was starting to understand where he was getting at. She was too focused on the result of the action, not the action itself. She guessed... being touched in such a way was something else totally. Being wanted like that would probably be intense, like baring her soul, and she guessed _that's_ how it would improve their Soul Resonance rate by an exorbitant amount...

"T-that's why I asked Blair about it..." Maka mumbled, letting her finger trace around the knob. "I-I just realized... I didn't trust any one else but you. But I didn't think you'd _w-want _to so I was... thinking about..." She bit her lip, knowing this was going to sound very bad in his ears.

It would certainly hurt her beyond belief if Soul ever said _that_ to her_._

"About?"

Maka swallowed. She could just go inside her room and escape the conversation...

"Maka."

She didn't want to say it.

"Maka!"

"...Finding someone else to try it with." Maka winced when she heard his fist collide with the floor as he picked himself up, the growl that ripped his throat drowned in the sharp squeak of his shoes against the tiles.

"You don't trust me." He stated neutrally.

"No, I do!" Maka shouted, strongly. "I just—I didn't think you'd _want_ me that way so why bother to try to ask you if I knew you were just going to say no!" She yelled.

"I didn't say no, did I?"

"Well, _now_... but you _still_ said no!" Maka countered hotly.

"I said I wasn't ready!" Soul snapped.

"It's the same thing!"

"No, it's—!" Soul sighed and made his way over to her, placing his hand over her own on the doorknob. "It's not. I'm not going to agree to this only to have you chicken out at the last second."

"I won't chicken out.." Maka mumbled stubbornly, not looking at him.

He glanced at her. "You say that now..." He rose his other hand to cup her chin. Ignoring her wide eyes and gasp of his name, he used his other hand to shut the door and push her against it, his breath feathering her lips as he caught her in his stare. "But will you really mean it?"

Maka trembled under his intense gaze.

It wasn't like she imagined it would be.

It _wouldn't_ be like she imagined it would be, she realized with a plunge of her stomach.

This would go past the boundaries of an experiment and into something else completely; something that involved emotions and feelings and _desire _and drive_—!_

"... Do you mean it, Maka?" He softly asked.

"Mean what...?"

Soul shifted until he was standing directly in front of her, looming over her and making her feel small. She was caged between his arms, without any room for escape. She would have to answer him. His hand rose up to push her chin back, force her viridian eyes to look into his own vermilion ones.

He needed to know if she meant it or not.

"Do you want me, too?" He whispered.

Maka's heart very nearly exploded. It was so hard to breathe all of a sudden, like her lungs forgot how they were designed to function. Under his intense stare, caught in his strong arms, unable to think because her mind has gone blank, Maka made a noise in the back of her throat that crossed between a choke and a squeak.

"_Maka_..." Soul leaned down, sliding his hand down the wood of the door to rest on her stiff shoulder. He squeezed, reassuringly. "Tell me." He breathed.

Maka squeezed her eyes shut.

Damn.

And he wasn't even doing anything. They weren't even doing _anything_ yet it already felt like he had her under an x-ray. She could only imagine, with a tremble of both fear and excitement, how it would feel when they finally engage in such a passionate act. She was sixteen; he was going to be seventeen in a couple of weeks. Were they too young? Was that why she felt so terrified? Or would it always feel this way...?

"I..." Maka's mouth was desert dry She wet her lips, taking a deep breath that only served to feed her panic. "I... want you but..." She squeezed her hands into fists, forcing the words out before she choked them in and locked them up deep inside again. "... do you really want _me_?" It felt like a weight had been lifted, and she slumped against the door to show this.

A deep chuckle made a shudder run down her body.

"Stupid..."

She felt his fingers, so long and limber, dance past her cheek before his thumb grazed the edge of her lips.

"Of course I do." He murmured huskily.

The touch felt so soft, so loving, it made Maka's heart stutter in her ribcage and the single thought of _I'm going to die of heart failure _flit her mind before his hand cupped his cheek and gently rose her head back up to face him. His eyes were unnaturally soft, not the usual blank red, and she absently wished she could continue to stare into them, so warm and welcoming, before his mouth melded with her own.

All thought went down the drain.

Whatever goals she had, whatever she had wished to accomplish from this, no longer mattered to her. It all disappeared into the untraceable reaches of her mind, forever lost until she resurfaced, but she found, in that moment of bliss, that she didn't _want _to resurface, not now or ever, and only clutched the front of his shirt to prove this.

Their kisses became feverish, full of a drive she didn't think she possessed, and full of everything she hadn't thought of before. She had been too caught up in the result, too caught up in the glory from said result, that she'd forgotten to consider how utterly _exposed _and how utterly _emotional _everything would become once they engaged in this ancient act.

Before she knew it, her fingers were digging into his messy locks of hair and his own were gripping her hips, pulling her flush against him as his mouth devoured her own. She moaned into his mouth, feeling a smirk grace his lips before his teeth bit into her lip again; her fingers digging with pained pleasure into his skull.

"I think..." He panted against her lips, tongue tracing the rim of her swollen bottom lip sensually. "... I'm ready now."

Maka didn't have enough time to respond before his mouth was back on hers again and her thoughts turned to mush once more – the mission with Black Star far, _far_ away from their minds as they delved into the thick waters of soul bonding...

* * *

**A/N: **I rated this M because some people are too immature to say the word 'sex' without giggling or feeling mortified D: And some sizzling SoMa action that's too intense to be T...at least to me.

I'm so old-fashioned XD

Yet I'm technically endorsing premarital sex... well, hey! I _did _say to use protection, neh? I ain't so bad LOL

Review!

_Scarlett._


	2. You Kill Me

**Soul Bond  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlet_

* * *

**2**  
_you kill me_

* * *

There had been a moment when she recounted the possible consequences of doing the deed at such a young age.

However, they had been washed away by a tidal wave of desire and rebellion; removing all doubt, all sense and reasoning. She had gotten caught up in the heat of the moment, in the way his hands touched every inch of flesh and his breathless whispers made her heart pound in her chest.

She couldn't quite recall when they had reached her bed but they did. She also couldn't recall when he'd taken off her clothes, or when she'd stripped him of his, until he was hovering over her, rogue eyes hazy with a lust that reflected in her own eyes.

They hadn't reached that peak she'd read in the book on their first try.

In fact, Maka would say they reached that peak on their sixth try – the peak being described as something similar to Soul Resonance. The _other_ peak had been achieved on their second try and beyond, with the handy help of something Soul cheerfully described as foreplay...

However, the next day of their first time, she had forced him out of bed, kicked him into the shower, and hastily made breakfast so they would be able to meet Black Star and Tsubaki for their shared assignment. Although Soul hadn't called Black Star to confirm they were going, Maka had no doubt the assassin expected them to be there, and so she did not worry about getting left behind.

Their relationship had grown strangely comfortable after that passionate night, although Maka still felt strained under that pressure.

She didn't know what they were now. That line they both refused to cross had been blurred out by their actions from the previous night, and Maka feared Soul would simply prove all of those sweet words, all of the whispers he'd said in her ear, lies.

It was an intense type of fear; strong enough that she could sometimes not concentrate on reading. Her uncertainty had been palpable; Tsubaki had picked up on it, and Soul had tossed her concerned looks she firmly ignored.

* * *

"_Maka-chan, are you okay?" Tsubaki asked, nervously. She alternated from watching the two boys that walked ahead, laughing and talking, to observing her close friend as she adamantly stared at the floor. "You've been very quite...did Soul-kun do something to make you angry again?"_

"_I..." Maka faltered. She slowed her steps, Tsubaki right along with her. "Tsubaki..." She was her best friend. Tsubaki was probably the one person you could be sure would keep a secret; no matter how grotesque or embarrassing it was. "Don't tell anyone." Maka firstly said, causing the shadow weapon to nod firmly._

"_Of course, Maka-chan, I won't tell a single person." She promised, giving Maka her full attention. "What's wrong?"_

"_Yesterday..." Maka hesitated. "I read in a book that one could improve meister-weapon soul resonance rate by having sex." Tsubaki's eyes widened at that but she stayed silent. "So I asked Blair about it and she told me it might be right... and then Soul overheard."_

"_Oh, my." Tsubaki murmured, concernedly. "Did Soul-kun say something unflattering?" _

_Maka felt her face heat. "N-no... um, actually..."_

_Tsubaki suddenly stopped, mouth slowly falling open. Her wide eyes made her look child-like. "Maka-chan...you... did you...?"_

_Maka sent a hastily look over her shoulder to the boys, quickly grabbing Tsubaki's arm and pulling her along so they would not get left behind. But the shadow weapon could only stare at Maka in a new light. She __had __certainly not expected that to come out of her mouth._

"_Yes, we did!" Maka hissed, paranoid Soul or Black Star might overhear. "And now—well, I don't know what's going on between us! I mean, we're not... official or anything. It was kind of like an experiment." Maka admitted. "Now all we have to do is check to see if our soul resonance rate stabilizes and increases in power."_

"_But, Maka-chan...you and Soul actually—did it?" Tsubaki was beet red; Maka wondered if they were identical in color now. "Y-you're not a... virgin anymore?"_

_Maka smiled, weakly. "No. Not anymore."_

"_... Did it hurt?"_

_Maka blinked. That was unexpected. "What?"_

"_Did it hurt?" Tsubaki asked, again. She looked more curious than shocked now. "I-I heard that it hurt sometimes."_

"_Oh! Oh, it hurt a little at first, but Soul was really gentle about it, so..." Maka cleared her throat, uncomfortable with the topic now. "It was okay after a while. I'm just—sore."_

"_Sore?" _

"_Yeah, my thighs they—hurt. Like I worked out with Black Star or something." Maka weakly humored, and Tsubaki allowed a small smile to graze her lips at her attempt._

"_Well, going back to your concern, I believe you should just act normally." Tsubaki advised. "Soul-kun really admires you, Maka-chan, and I don't think he will abuse your trust in him so crudely. He's better than that, you should know better than anyone else."_

_Maka mulled over this. She had a good point. Soul had not proven to be unfaithful and his loyalty to her had never wavered... _

"_I guess..."_

_Tsubaki smiled, brightly. "If anything, I think Soul-kun will grow even fonder of you!"_

_Maka cast her gaze to the cloud-less sky, oblivious to the pair of red eyes that glanced at her with veiled conflict._

* * *

It turned out Maka had nothing to be worried about – Soul had been just as nerve-wracked about the sudden shift in their relationship as she had.

He had cornered her against a tree in the forest when she'd excused herself from the campsite, unable to stand the suffocating atmosphere. Black Star seemed immune to it but Soul and Tsubaki were quiet, subdued; one with thought and the other with wandering curiosity.

* * *

"_Are you...regretting it?"_

_Maka started, looking up in surprise. "No, I don't regret anything, Soul." She answered honestly, and was rewarded with a relieved sigh. However, the relief was short-lived, because now new questions arose._

"_Then what's wrong?" He asked, glancing to the path they had walked down of. He pushed her deeper into the forest, to the unmarked paths where they would not be found, before committing his attention back to her. "You've been... weird this whole time. Something the matter?"_

"_I haven't been weird." Maka muttered, avoiding his eyes. "It's nothing... I'm fine."_

"_That's not true." He replied, taking half a step closer to her. She bit her lip when his fingers played with the end of her pigtail, sending all sorts of mixed signals to her. She wasn't even sure where to start, much less sure if she would be able to say it._

"_This... is weird." Maka finally said, after an extended pause. Soul flashed his eyes to her but remained silent. "What, exactly, are we doing?" She looked at her shoes._

"_I don't get you."_

_Summoning all her courage, she explained herself: "I don't know what to do anymore. I'm confused." Maka admitted, biting the inside of her cheek. "This was supposed to improve our resonance rate but I don't think it can if I don't even know where our relationship stands anymore."_

"_Do you mean...if we're regular partners or not?" Soul asked, dumbing down her words._

_Maka glared at him for that. "Yes."_

"_I guess not." He answered, with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "I don't know of any partnership where they do it and nothing changes."_

_Maka fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. "Then...then what are we?"_

"_I'd like us to be together." Soul confessed, after a brief pause. She sharply breathed in. "I mean, I know this was an experiment and all but... we both meant it. That means we both like each other, right?"_

_Maka slowly nodded, sluggishly understanding his logic._

"_So, we should date, right?"_

_She swallowed compulsively at that. "I-I guess..."_

"_So... are we?"_

"_I don't know!" Maka blew out air in annoyance. "That's what I was asking you! Do... do you want to? Date, I mean?"_

"_Yeah." He answered, but added thoughtfully: "But... it's not me you should be worried about, it's you."_

_Maka creased a brow. "Me? Why me?"_

_He caught her cheek again, cupping it as he forced her to look up. "Because you think too much." He smiled at the anger that flashed through her eyes. "You blow things out of proportion when you over analyze stuff. Dating won't really change how we act towards each other... it'll just—give me some rights."_

_Maka blinked. "Rights?"_

_He grinned, leaning down. His lips hovered precariously over her own. "Yeah. For one, I'll get to do this all I want." He pressed his lips against hers, making sure to stir hidden desires within her before pulling away. "And we won't get so bored in the evening anymore. So that's cool." _

_The way his eyes glittered, with mirth and something rebellious, made her blood race in her veins. "I... still don't know what we are." She admitted, meekly._

_Soul softened his face and asked, "Do you want to go out with me?"_

_Maka answered, face still drawn with uncertainty, "Yes, but..."_

"_Then we are."_

"_And...?"_

"_That's it."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yep." He grinned at her wondrous face. "That's it. Not too hard, huh?"_

"_I thought... I don't know what I thought."_

"_You think too much – like always."_

"_No, I think _thoroughly_ – how you're supposed to!__"_

_"Uh huh, sure."_

* * *

He was right, of course: it hadn't been so different.

They acted mostly the same towards one another, with the exception that Soul was more affectionate and open with her than before, and she found that she often sunk into his arms instead of the comfort of her bed when she was tired or fatigued.

Tsubaki kept her word, and her advice was helpful even if Maka decided to begin dating Soul Eater.

However, it wasn't until nearly two months after their agreement to take their partnership to a new level that their friends realized what had been different so about them...

* * *

"_Maka!" Liz suddenly gasped, braking to a stop. The basketball missed her hand and she pointed a finger at Maka, shouting with sudden glee: "I get it! I get it now! How could I have missed it? It's so obvious now!"_

_Maka, who had been sitting on the bench reading her book, eyed her suspiciously. "Get what, Liz?"_

"_Why you look so different!" Liz clarified. _

_"I don't look any different than usual, Liz." She glanced down at her clothes in confusion._

_"No! Not like that! I just meant - emotionally! You have a boyfriend!" She declared._

_Maka stared._

_Black Star stifled laughter and Patty had begun laughing. Kid rose a brow at Liz and Tsubaki clasped her hands over her mouth, looking rather worried. _

_Soul was calm, not making any sudden movements except to retrieve the ball from the edge of the basketball court._

_"It all makes sense now!" Liz laughed at herself for being so dense. She was usually the one on top of these things. "You don't get grossed out when we talk about boys and you haven't made a single sexist comment against men since I can remember!"_

_Maka frowned. "Actually—!"_

"_AND! You have two hickeys on your neck!" Liz accusingly added._

_Maka's hand flew up to her neck, shock and horror etched on her face. "What? I do not! My skin is clear – look!"_

"_Ha! But you didn't deny not getting them before!" Liz grinned wickedly, realization that she had been played dawning to Maka belatedly. "Now, the question is: who is it? Is it that guy in Soul Theory who always stares at you?"_

"_What guy?" Soul snapped, annoyed with what had come out of the weapons mouth. Maka had never told him she was being pestered by other guys. And he always complained to her about those girls who asked him out!_

"_No!" Maka quickly said, casting a sheepish glance at Soul. He narrowed his eyes at her. _

"_Hmm, that blond guy who asked you out a week ago?"_

_Sou stared at Maka blandly, who was looking more and more embarrassed by Liz._

"_NO! It's not him!" Maka shouted, then added: "And he didn't ask me out, he offered me a partnership with him!"_

"_Same thing!" Liz dismissed, to her outrage. "What about that other guy in our—!"_

"_It's not any of them, alright?" Maka snapped, shutting her book with a resounding clap. "This is ridiculous! Liz, you're—!"_

"_It's me." Soul spoke up, flatly._

_Maka shut up and Liz slowly turned to him, eyes sparkling like stars. From the sides, he briefly glimpsed Black Star choking on his saliva and Kid's brows both raising up to his hairline in a symmetrical fashion. _

"_No way..." She gasped._

_Soul heaved a sigh, setting the basketball under his arm. "We've been dating since, like, two months ago?" He cast a confirming look at Maka, and she nodded. "Yeah. She's my girlfriend now."_

"_WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US YOU WERE DATING?" Liz shrieked, looking scandalized. "What else haven't you told us?"_

_Soul smirked and Maka flushed, bringing her book to her chest as if to hide herself from Soul's suddenly leering gaze._

"_Nothing much." Soul shrugged, with an air of smugness. Kid curled the edge of his lip knowingly and Black Star gawked, more out of the shock that Soul was dating his meister than the implications of his tone."We just didn't think it'd be that important..."_

"_Of course it'd be important! You and Maka—why didn't I—? Oh, brother, at least you two admitted to liking each other!" Liz sighed, rubbing her temples as she digested all of this. "These two numbskulls over here are still totally oblivious to it!"_

"_What?" Tsubaki squeaked, looking like a child lost amid a crowd of strangers._

_Black Star cocked a haughty brow. "Hey! I'm not a numbskull! I'm better than that – I'm the guy who's gonna'—!"_

"_Surpass the gods, yadda, yadda, yadda – we get it, but that's not the point!" Liz glared, Black Star sticking his nose in the air and huffing away in offense. "The point is, Soul and Maka are official now and I can't wait until this circulates the whole school!"_

_"Oh, this is gonna' be good." Black Star smirked, knowing exactly what she was talking about._

"_So what if it does?" Soul asked, frowning._

_Maka groaned. "Liz, please, don't..."_

"_Ah ah ah! This is your punishment for not telling me sooner." Liz tsked, smiling coyly at Maka. "You're going to have to face all of those fangirls on your own. Good luck, Maka!"_

_Maka glared at her book and bit back a snap, looking rather sick now at the prospect of facing a hoard of furious admirers. "I...would rather not."_

"_D-don't worry, Maka-chan!" Tsubaki assured, in a haste. "Patty and I will help you! Right, Patty?"_

_Patty just laughed, bobbing her head up and down. "Yep! We'll beat the shit out of those girls before they can beat the shit out of you for taking Soul off the market!"_

_Maka paled._

* * *

Soul had been silently pissed at her for the rest of the evening after that.

It seemed her not telling him of her admirers had upset him, even though he denied being angry with her, and the next morning had been terrible in the fact that Liz had spread their relationship around the school in the time-span of a few hours.

Maka had walked down the halls, Soul by her side with his hands stuffed coolly in his pockets, feeling stared at and whispered about.

Soul was unaffected, perhaps even oblivious, to the attention, but Maka had caught the hateful stares and jealous snarls thrown at her.

The only good thing that had happened that day was Soul had seemingly gotten over his jealousy over those boys and had begun to speak to her again, going as far as bringing her into a tight embrace within the school halls to somehow amend for his behavior.

However, Maka supposed, it had been that open display of affection that had set his admirers off.

* * *

"_We want you to break up with Soul."_

_Maka looked at them, appearing unruffled by their words. However, a gnawing anxiety had gathered in her stomach, shown in the way she clenched her hands into tight fists. Her eyes narrowed, glowing a dangerous green. "No."_

_The girl flinched back, as if slapped. "Excuse me? Didn't you hear what I said? I said, you're breaking up with Soul! You're no good for him!" She snarled. "You're boring, you're ugly, and you're always hitting him!"_

"_I'm not breaking up with him just because you're envious of our relationship." Maka shouted right back. "Do you honestly think he'll spare you a second glance if I do happen to break up with him? Don't make me laugh – he won't even look at you! Much less want to go out with you!"_

"_You little bitch—!" She rose her hand in a punch, not a slap, because Shibusen taught better than that, but Maka didn't move. She stepped to the side, allowing her to punch the wall instead. The girl howled in pain, shaking out her hand. _

_Her two friends cried out for her, sending Maka venomous looks she studiously ignored in favour of gazing pitifully at the girl who'd nearly broke her knuckles against the wall in her fit._

"_I'm not leaving him." Maka restated, firmly. "Just like he isn't leaving me. Soul...he..." She paused, unsure if this would deter their hostilities or not. "I love Soul." It grew silent, the words echoing down the lonesome hall they had cornered her into. "I-I love Soul... I—I would do anything for him." Maka realized, and the girls were not ignorant to the look of dawning that had unfurled in her emerald eyes._

_The one to the side nudged the second one quietly, looking rather resigned. The second one pressed her lips together, dropping her eyes to the floor. The one who had tried to punch her, the primary antagonist, had something like hurt and rage traced on her face._

"_But I love Soul, too!" The antagonist yelled, desperately. "I-I—!"_

"_No, you don't." Maka softly said._

_Anger lit her eyes. "Yes, I DO!"_

"_You don't understand love then." Maka quietly said. The words kept coming, like a stubborn stream of water out of a faucet. "What you have is an infatuation. It's based mostly on appearance; sexual appeal. Nothing more. Could you honestly tell me that if it came down to it you would give your soul for him?"_

_The girl opened her mouth for an angry retort but only a blow of air came out. She clamped her jaw shut, darting her eyes to her shoes. With her brows creased, teeth biting her bottom lip, she was suddenly faced with the realization of Maka's words._

"_I would." Maka continued, even softer. She was lost in a sea of memories, each one more impacting than the last. "I..I've done it before. A lot of times... and he has a scar to prove his."_

_The first girl took a sharp breath, the second looking at her in quiet wonder. _

"_... I guess not." The second girl spoke up, glancing at her friend. "Hey, Tanya, let's go. It's—it's not worth it, lets just tell the rest to give up or something. I mean, she kind of has a point..."_

"_Yeah." The first one seconded, looking hesitant. "I think Soul's hot and all but... she looks like she really, really loves him. It wouldn't be nice if we-we forced them apart. That's mean..."_

_The girl called Tanya pressed her lips together in displeasure, sparing Maka one embittered look before turning away. "Okay, I get it...I know when I've lost. But you better not break his heart!" She spat at Maka, who jumped at being suddenly addressed. "If you break his heart, I swear, we'll all come after you, Albarn!" She stormed away from her._

"_We mean it, too!" The second one added, scuttling after her friend._

"_I-I won't!" Maka shouted after them, slumping against the wall and pressing a hand over her racing heart._

_What had just happened here?_

* * *

Soul found her half an hour later, swishing a can of soda around in her hand broodingly in one of the benches at Shibusen, near the courtyard.

He'd been searching for her frantically, having encountered Tsubaki and been told, in a rush by the panicked weapon, that a couple of girls had hounded in on Maka and were most likely up to no good. He had been relieved to find her unharmed, save for the rather gloomy cloud that hovered over her.

They'd gone home then, Soul making some hot chocolate as she fell on her back on the couch and stared at the ceiling; still stuck in her thoughts about those three girls. It wasn't _them_ that was bothering her, it was the words that had escaped the constraints of her heart; that had tumbled from her lips like sand through her fingers.

"_I love Soul."_

She had never said that to him before. She had never really even admitted it to herself. She admitted liking him, to such a raw extent that she could not bear the thought of him being hurt. She had also admitted that she _could _be with him; spend the rest of her life with him and never lust for another.

But it was different when she said it; the realization had hit her hard, like a punch to her gut, and now she was unsure of where she stood again.

One one side, she was his girlfriend; treated as one, treasured as one.

On the other side, she loved him. Was that still fine with their established relationship? Was it okay to love someone that much and still remain a girlfriend? Did it honestly matter? Maka didn't know, but she was annoyed to find that maybe she was over thinking everything again...

She had drunk her hot chocolate silently, having not spoken except for when he asked direct questions, and continued to mull over this while Soul watched her over the rim of his cup.

She was thinking again.

He'd known her since they were twelve.

He knew perfectly well that when Maka thought and she was distressed, shit happened.

* * *

"_Are you sure you're alright?" Soul asked again, when she finished her hot chocolate and placed her empty mug on the table._

"_I'm fine, Soul, they didn't do anything to me." Maka replied, frustrated by his persistance. "They left a few minutes after they came to speak to me."_

"_What did they tell you?" He pressed, watching her hand tense on her lap._

"_... They asked me to break up with you." Maka finally revealed, and Soul's face darkened. "I said no." She looked at her lap. "I guess we just kept arguing until they realized I was serious about you." She carefully skipped out on the major details, those three words echoing in her mind._

_I love Soul, I love Soul, I love Soul..._

_It was an incessant repetition; like a broken record. _

_Maka abruptly stood, excusing herself to her bedroom, and shut the door behind her quietly, along with the hard stare of her partner._

* * *

She'd laid on her bed, on top of the sheets, staring at the ceiling.

New questions had arisen; overshadowing the old concerns like a pencil shaded in a page. They no longer seemed important, and one question stuck out amongst the rest like a bright neon sign:

_Does he love me back?_

It terrified her, suddenly, making her jolt up in her bed.

She had such strong emotions for her weapon, emotions that were possibly deadly, and she didn't know if he felt the same. She knew he liked her, cared for her, worried about her, whispered things that could be inferred as _iloveyou's _but the actual words had never slipped past his lips.

Maka had groaned and snatched her pillow from beside her, clutching it to her chest. She'd stuck her face in it, feeling inexplicably girly with such thoughts roaming her mind. She usually had formulas or facts in her head; not thoughts about _love_! She'd been so immersed in stomping down all of the burning questions that she hadn't noticed the door opened to reveal the object of her frustration.

She hadn't noticed until she felt the bed sink with his weight, and by then it had been too late because she had gotten pulled into his arms; with his mouth by her ear and his arms wrapped around her tightly to prevent any escape.

"_Why don't you just talk to me?" _He had asked, softly. But the words offered her little comfort – the dangerous thoughts in her mind could not be said aloud, not yet. That type of emotion, the words her mama used to say to her papa so adoringly, were lethal; fatal.

It meant baring her heart, baring her everything to him, and that type of exposure was absolutely terrifying. She had seen how her mama had broke because of that wretched emotion; how, sometimes, while Maka was tucked into her bed at night, soft sobs drifted from the bedroom across her own when her papa didn't come home that night. Sobs that were wrung with despair, with hurt and hatred.

Those three words had shattered Kami Albarn, had made her into the cold, jaded, and disciplined woman Maka had come to admire.

And Maka realized that those words may just shatter her, too, if she let them slip again.

* * *

**A/N: **I believe Maka's trust issues run deeper than one would first think, and that is going to be my primary focus for this story. So you can expect minor angst or, as I call it, drama. This is definitely going to be an emotional roller-coaster, if my foreshadowing hadn't told you enough. But happy-endings are secured, because I can't stand tragic stories. They make me squirm. I'm a romanticist that way.

_Chapter titles are taken from song titles: I do not own You Kill Me by Paper Route or Painless by Mae._

_Scarlett._


	3. Blue and Yellow

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Black and Yellow by The Used, or Soul Eater for the matter..._

**Soul Bond  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlet._

* * *

**3  
**_blue and yellow_

* * *

"_Um, Maka-chan..."_

"_Tsubaki, are you sure he doesn't mind?"_

"_Who? Black Star? Oh, no, he knows I'm in capable hands, but..."_

"_Alright. As long as he doesn't mind."_

"_Are you sure about this?"_

"_There's no helping it." Maka stabbed the heel of her boot into the ground, driving it into a puddle of mud. "Soul is still away at Baltimore on a mission, and Lord Death needs someone who can take care of the job right now."_

_Tsubaki nodded reluctantly, deciding to stay quiet as her temporary meister brooded over the outcome of this day. _

_Black Star could have easily taken the mission had it not been for one slight problem: he would never be able to locate the kishin den because he lacked the sight she had. Yumi Azusa would have been an appropriate weapon to send along with Sid instead of her but, Maka presumed, this assignment simply wasn't that high of a risk yet._

_It would be soon, however._

_Untreated dens of kishin's, where insanity festered and grew, could became serious problems over time, which was why Maka was being sent to control the infestation now. She was usually assigned these types of missions nowadays, and often times they became very dangerous, given the severity of insanity despite Asura's downfall. _

_But she had never been too concerned about these assignments because she always had her scythe; her personal strategist._

_Maka clenched her hands._

_She had nothing against the mission itself except that this would be her first mission without Soul Eater as her weapon._

_Maka drove her heel deeper into the mud._

* * *

The mission had been successful, with minor injuries delivered on her person. The scratches and hits were pains that were easily ignorable; she'd suffered worse and still managed to walk away from the scene with her head held high.

It was her given duty as a meister of DWMA to be able to master other types of weapons. Being a Scythe Meister had only been her start in her long journey. The rest, after converting her current weapon into a Deathscythe, would come with time, and it was then she realized that learning to use other weapons was the second step in her quest to becoming a respectable meister like Kami Albarn.

That was when she realized things wouldn't really be the same anymore.

Soul wouldn't be solely hers.

Just like she wouldn't his only meister.

She wondered if that counted as cheating, and it would feel as if someone had wrapped wire around her neck.

She hadn't known how to define the feeling; it was so strange, so foreign, for her.

Then she realized what it was.

Fear.

* * *

"_Damn, I really don't want to go..." Soul groaned, sprawled on the couch with a gamer magazine splayed on his stomach. "Being a Deathscythe can be such a pain sometimes."_

"_There's no use crying over it now." Maka stated, adjusting her cuffs. "You're going, no exceptions."_

_Soul watched her take her coat from the backrest of a chair, swinging it on herself and not bothering to button up the front like usual. She fixed the collar on her white shirt, smoothing her skirt of any creases wordlessly. _

_Soul tossed the magazine on the coffee table, once again assaulted with thoughts on their relationship. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong, but Soul had marked it off as his own paranoia at first. However, his suspicious had been correct: something was wrong with Maka, and he hadn't the slightest clue what it was._

_That pissed him off and worried him simultaneously._

_She'd grown slightly cold, not necessarily willing to give into his affections although helpless not to. But it wasn't like before; something like pain flashed in her eyes, too quick for him to really notice in the beginning._

"_Where are you going? I thought you didn't have anything to do later." _

"_Me? Oh, Lord Death contacted me a few hours ago." Maka explained. "I'll be on my way to Bulgaria with a Demon Ax named Richard Axle to take care of a few terrorizing kishin's in an hour. Nothing big."_

"_...You never told me."_

"_I didn't think you'd really care." Maka casually answered, his hard stare fastened on her backside. She pretended not to notice. "After all, you'll be gone for two weeks and I'll be back in four, five, days tops."_

"_You still could have told me, you know."_

"_Does it really bother you that much?" Maka finally turned, and he set his jaw at the glacial look in her eyes. "Fine. Next time I'll tell you."_

"_What's up with you?" Soul asked, darting his eyes to his suitcase by the door. He had fixed it up a few hours ago and kicked it to the door so he would not forget it. "You've been like this for a while now..."_

"_Been like how for a while now?" Maka scowled._

"_Like, m__oody..."_

"_Moody?" Maka's brows rose in disbelief. "That's all you have to say? That I've been MOODY? Grow up, Soul, seriously." She scoffed, and turned her back to him once more._

_At length, he said: "You've changed."_

_Maka paused in adjusting her gloves."Changed? What do you mean by that?"_

"_Ever since we started dating, you haven't been the same." Soul stated, equally cold. Maka tensed. "You've changed. You're not the same. I don't know what if it's the pressure of being in a relationship or—!"_

"_I have no idea what you're talking about, Soul." Maka cut him off, crisply. "Look, you're going to miss your flight, and I'm already late for mine. I'll see you in a few weeks – take care." Maka disappeared out the front door without hearing a word he said, leaving Soul to stare after her with something close to regret._

* * *

He had been right, of course.

She _had_ changed – she just hadn't noticed how _much _until he pointed it out.

Maka often let the thought of telling him of her newly-discovered philophobia cross her mind. When she had discovered it was fear that shook her heart whenever she thought of diving deeper into their relationship, she had automatically researched that type of irrational fear, but kept the result to herself in her shame.

Sometimes she wanted to tell him that it would be harder to love her because she was such a paranoid and overly frightened girl when it came down to these subtle and dangerous pathways of adulthood.

Sometimes she wanted to fix everything, but that same fear would swallow up her heart.

She kept her lips sewn shut.

And she supposed all of that strain had to compile into _something_, right?

* * *

"_What the hells your problem, Soul? I told you already! Nothing's wrong!" Maka screamed, but Soul merely growled in frustration._

"_It's been a whole month and I haven't even touched you ONCE!" Soul snapped right back._

_Her mouth dropped in disbelief. "So now I'm just some toy you can play with – what the FUCK are you trying to say, Soul Eater?" She snarled. "Ugh! I knew it – you're just like my stupid papa, after all! You're no different than any other man out there! You just want me for my body!"_

"_That's not it! Don't compare me to that dumbass, Maka, we're nothing alike!" Soul shouted, running his fingers through his hair in exasperation. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant, I haven't even hugged you once – you back away from me as if I have the plague or something!"_

"_I do not!"_

"_Yes, you do! Stop trying to deny it!" Soul argued. "It's not the same! We haven't been the same for a long time! If you'd just tell me what's wrong, we can work this out!"_

"_I can't tell you about something that isn't there!" _

"_Are you still going on with that? Drop it, will you? It's annoying!"_

"_Yes, I'm still going on with that because there is nothing to discuss!" Maka shrieked, already up to her head with his insistence. She would smack him on the head with her book if he didn't shut up! "When there's something, I'll tell you! But not now, because there's nothing wrong with me!"_

_Soul, before he could stop himself, said: "...I think we should take a break."_

_Maka froze, backside turned to him. Her heart iced over, stomach plummeting to her ankles. The most terrible feeling gathered in her chest, like a tight rubber ball composed of hurt and numbness. It made her mouth dry, her mind go blank. "...What?"_

_Soul heaved a sigh. "You heard me. We should take a break from each other – just for a little while. So we can work this out... by ourselves."_

_Words that sounded like apologies, like begging, threatened to spill from her lips. But she held it all in brazenly, her eyes starting to sting. "Fine. That's probably what we both need right now." She could only manage that single sentence before she walked out the front door, slamming it loudly behind her. _

_She ran down the stairs and left the complex as quickly as possible, vision already blotting with her bitter tears._

_She ran all the way to the training forest by Shibusen, seeing nothing but the rugged path ahead of her and the fading sunlight._

_When she was sure no one was around, no one would hear her, she screamed at the top of her lungs and called Soul all of the vulgar names her mind could come up with. _

_Then she slumped against a tree and cried._

* * *

Their friends heard about the break up a few hours later and, although they tried to console her, Maka let their words go in one ear and out the other. Their apologies wouldn't mend their broken relationship; it was pointless, in her eyes.

She stayed strong, despite the painful ache inside, and refused to thaw under the pressure of losing him.

She refused to admit that maybe this had been her fault for not opening up; for keeping her fears to herself.

Fear tended to overwhelm a person the longer it was left unattended.

But she kept seeing her mama's red-rimmed eyes and tired smile in her nightmares.

In her dreams, she would tenderly pat her on the head and her gravelly voice would climb up her throat to say: _"it's okay, Maka, your papa is just working late." _

It would echo in her head like a broken record.

That pretty little lie.

"_It's okay, Maka, your papa loves us very much."_

"_What about that other lady? Papa said he loved her, too."_

"_Your papa loves us, Maka. Only us..."_

Maka thew herself to her missions and school work viciously, huffing away from Soul or flat-out ignoring him whenever they encountered one another.

Sometimes she would get the feeling he wanted to say something, but she made sure to quickly escape the room before he could.

It was terribly awkward when they had to fight together now, and living with one another only made things more uncomfortable. Their conversations were short and snipped; not even half of what they used to be.

It was somewhat tragic, how deeply their friendship had been bruised because of this one mistake on her part.

She guessed this was why Shibusen warned of romantic relations between the students; how it could affect their partnership and their resonance rate.

But she hadn't listened, for once.

And now she couldn't resonate with him at all; having taken too many blows to her heart by his cold words.

She always fought with him, both spitting out venom and awful words when the tension in the room became too much. It was always Soul who threw in the towel; who spat a curse and stormed away from her when they got into these types of battles.

Maka would watch him leave, with scornful eyes, but she felt nothing.

There was no victory whenever he surrendered; it just made her realize how much further she was pushing him away, and that scared her but relieved the fear that had taken refuge in her heart.

She was lucky she had such great friends.

* * *

"_Maka-chan... I know you don't like it when we pester you about this, but... you haven't been well since you and Soul broke up." Tsubaki sadly watched her friend toss another stick into their campsite fire, the flames dancing dully in her eyes. "I know you and Soul-kun have been through a lot but... but I know you two belong with each other. You love each other so much—!"_

"_Tsubaki, please." Maka whispered, burying her face in her knees. That word again; it scared her so badly. She shut her eyes."I really don't want to talk about it right now."_

_Tsubaki considered obeying and resigning herself to another quiet night but Black Star's comment on Soul's deteriorating mental health was pressing. Soul was her friend, and Maka was her best friend, and to see them suffer like this because of a few misunderstandings was difficult to look at from the sidelines._

"_No, Maka, we have to get to the bottom of this now!" Tsubaki persisted, bravely. "Maka-chan, what was it that caused your relationship to end so abruptly? It doesn't make any sense – you two were so happy! And then..."_

"_It was—nothing, just..." She sucked in a breath. She felt like crying again. That word scared her but it described her feelings so well. "We just..."_

"_Maka," Tsubaki crawled closer to her friend, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever it is, we can figure out a solution for it. Please talk to me."_

_The dam on the verge of breaking finally broke. Words came out of her mouth, some choked, some too rushed to be discerned from each other, but they came, and Tsubaki listened to each and every one of them. By the time she finished her tirade, breathing hard with tears streaking down her cheeks, she was rewarded with a consoling hug and not the smack across the face she felt she rightly deserved._

"_It's okay to be scared, Maka." Tsubaki whispered, stroking her head like a mother would to a child. "I don't blame you for being scared of loving him too much... but I do blame you for making that ruin your relationship!" Tsubaki flicked her forehead in a scold, smiling warmly. "If you love him, you tell him, obviously. There's no reason for you to be so scared. I bet Soul-kun also feels the same."_

_Maka dropped her eyes, wiping a hand under her runny nose. "... Mama always told me to be careful." Maka revealed, quietly. "She told me to not be fooled by pretty words, and that men were all the same one way or another."_

"_You can't find a perfect man, Maka-chan. There's no such thing. Just like there is no such thing as a perfect woman." Tsubaki said, gently. "Soul-kun has his bad traits just as you have your own. What separates like from love is that you are willing to accept him with all of those imperfections, just as he is willing to love you despite your own. Although your mothers marriage with your father wasn't a happy ending, that doesn't mean yours has to be that way, too."_

"_But..."_

"_I have faith that you and Soul-kun will manage to create a happy, loving, family together." Tsubaki's unwavering smile widened at Maka's reddened cheeks. "You both have shown us time and time again that things like this won't bring you two down... now, where's the Maka-chan we all know and love? The brave one?" She thumbed away a few tears and was relieved when Maka smiled genuinely, for the first time in what seemed to be weeks. "Tell him. From what Black Star has told me, he isn't taking the break up very well, either."_

"_He isn't?" Maka asked, concerned. "He's not sick or anything... is he?"_

_Tsubaki giggled. "He will be if you don't get a move on! Are you going to tell him, Maka-chan?"_

"_I.. I will." Maka nodded, firmly. She felt fear gurgle up her throat, threaten to choke her again, but she courageously swallowed it down this time. She wouldn't let that ruin her friendship with Soul – fear could be overcome. She had certainly done it before. "I promise I'll fix this!"_

_Tsubaki beamed._

_Suddenly, Maka felt the sharp presence of a kishin. Her eyes widened, and she barely had time to shout for Tsubaki before four of the creatures careened out of the thick wall of trees and bushes; their roars and howls intertwining with Maka's own swears as they clashed in heated battle._

* * *

Tsubaki was the best friend she could have ever asked for.

She was just what she needed to center herself again; to organize the messy banks of her mind. Her thoughts once again strong, resolve back in order, Maka would have easily marched back to her apartment, finally have a decent conversation with Soul, and she would have mended their relationship like she _should_ have done a few hours after their break up.

But instead she had staggered to professor Stein's laboratory, carrying an unconscious Tsubaki on her back while she bled out from the wound down her ribs.

Although their mission had been a fairly difficult one, they had accomplished it, but at the cost of a little bloodshed from her part.

Maka blamed her emotions – she _really_ had to work on that one day...

* * *

_Tsubaki owned a car due to Black Star's insistence. _

_It was a flashy model: a fifth generation Ford Mustang painted bright orange with two black stripes going down the middle. Maka and Tsubaki used it to reach the locations their assignments took place in whenever they were paired together, which was often nowadays since Maka refused to be paired with Soul and vise versa._

_Maka was meek to say that the car would need a thorough clean up to get rid of the blood and the stench of earth and rotting corpses._

_She hoped Black Star wouldn't make a big deal out of it..._

"_Maka, what in the world—oh, that explains waking me up at three in the morning." Stein said idly, watching his former student pant as she impressively carried Tsubaki on her back. He stepped forward, his eyes identifying every wound and possible injury on their bodies. "What happened. You're not due for another day."_

"_We were ambushed." Maka wheezed. She felt blood run down her leg. "Tsubaki took some of the damage when she was forced to transform back—some sort of acid that burned her in her weapon form or something. I couldn't identify the liquid but...but she should be... there should be remains of it on her." Her vision started to black around the edges from blood loss, the world dissolving into a disturbing closure of colors. "She needs help... Black Star's going to—to kill me...finds out..."_

"_MAKA—!"_

* * *

The last thing she saw was Marie appearing behind of Stein, shrieking in horror before she reached forward to catch her when she fell. Then everything went black.

The rest of that morning had been spent on a medical table as the professor poked around her wounded body to repair the damage.

She awoke a few minutes after the surgery to mend some internal bleeding caused by a brutal blow to her gut. Although everything hurt and she groaned and moaned for a few minutes before Marie numbed her body with morphine, Maka had to say, it could have been_ a lot_ worse.

She had been released by Stein before six in the evening that same day, Tsubaki also awake but choosing to stay – more out of doing a favour for the professor, who was intrigued by this new type of acid, than her own injuries. The major injury had been the acid attack, which had knocked her unconscious as it had forced her to transform back to normal. The strain from the unwilling transformation had been too much for her to handle.

Maka had slowly made her way back to her apartment by taking Tsubaki's car, since Tsubaki assured Black Star would come to retrieve her later. Maka had apologized for not keeping her word, and Tsubaki had said she would forgive her if she spoke to Soul about her fear...

Maka admitted it: Tsubaki was good.

She had driven through the arid streets of Death City with her words in mind.

Everything had felt different, when she reentered town that day.

She didn't feel as gloomy or bitter as usual – she felt as if she could finally understand these emotions, and fix the breach in her relationship with Soul Eater.

It was like the colors had bled back into her world.

Confrontation with him had wracked her nerves, even if she was ready to throw in the towel and accept defeat. She had sat in Black Star's car for a whole five minutes, debating what to say and how to somehow worm her way into _that _conversation, before she finally left the car and started her way to her apartment.

Climbing the stairs had been a grueling task.

She had to stop several times, afraid her stitches might pop open from the strain, but she made it to their floor safely and without accident. The keys she kept hidden in her boot had been a pain to take out – she'd basically taken her boot off with her foot, since she couldn't bend, and flipped the boot upside down so the keys slid out.

Then came picking them _up_...

Maka decided she hated rib injuries.

Eventually, Maka just pounded on the door and hoped someone was home. If not, Maka had been prepared to teach her toes how to grab things. Thankfully, the door had opened to reveal Soul holding a can of soda in his hand, hair messier than usual, with his headphones hanging around his neck.

He appeared to have barely woken up.

Needless to say, though, he stared at her for a few seconds, taking in her sheepish grin and the new scratches and bandages that adorned her body passively.

* * *

"_Hi, Soul... um, you think you can help me pick the keys off the floor? I can't bend – my stitches will open if I do."_

"_What... happened?" Soul asked, eerily blank._

"_It's—a long story." Maka sighed, itching to get inside and rest. "But, basically, a few kishin's ganged up on me and Tsubaki – but we won!" She quickly adding, when she noticed he had crushed the can in his hand._

* * *

He'd exploded into a furious lecture right after.

He had yanked her inside, snatching her boot and keys off the floor, and proceeded to bombard her with questions and frustrated yells.

She swore she heard the word _idiot _get tossed in there a lot but she couldn't be too sure – he stopped making sense after the first few shouts and she stopped _trying_ to make sense of it the instant he started...

She was exhausted: her body ached, her arms felt sore, and her insides had been prodded and observed by her old professor.

She was in no mood for a lecture.

Her plan to fix their relationship evaporated the instant Soul began his furious tirade at her recklessness, so she had resigned herself to sleeping off the medication and pain.

She had depressingly decided to discuss their relationship when he was less angry; perhaps tomorrow... or next week.

Soul could hold grudges better than a woman could.

* * *

"_I would have avoided getting my ass practically HANDED to me if I had noticed them earlier!" Maka finally snapped, making him falter for a second. "They ambushed us! I barely had enough time to pick Tsubaki up before I got kicked into a stupid tree! What the hell was a tree doing in a clearing, anyway?" She complained, furiously. "At least that stupid tree cracked in half!"_

_Maka fell on her side on the couch and immediately regretted it, clutching her side as white-hot pain cut through the numbing sensation of the drug. _

_Bad move._

"_Idiot! Don't move so hastily! You're still wounded!" Soul scolded, carefully lifting her up so the pain in her side ebbed. "Did Stein prescribed any pain medication or something?"_

"_I have to go pick it up from Shibusen." Maka moaned. Her side still burned. "I wasn't up for climbing those stairs. I barely made it up these stairs..."_

_Soul frowned but understood. _

_Her face warmed, as it usually did when he touched her, when she noticed his hand lingered on her shoulder for longer than was necessary. She watched curiously as he picked up his jacket and keys off the dining table._

"_W-wait, where are you going?"_

"_Where does it look like I'm going? I'm gonna' go pick up the medication before you start crying from the pain," Soul replied sarcastically, snatching the prescription note from her hand. _

"_I won't cry!" Maka defended. "I haven't cried from my injuries since I was thirteen, Soul!"_

"_Aren't you so tough," Soul sneered. Then he dropped the hostile expression and sighed. "You're still going to be in a lot of pain when you wake up later tonight. You'll need it."_

_Maka frowned but didn't argue. It was true – Stein had told her to pick up the medication as soon as possible. "Alright... I guess I'll go rest in my room for the time being." She readied herself to stand when she felt hands gently lift her up. _

_She sucked in a breath when Soul's hands, instead of falling back to his sides where they belonged, instead wrapped around her and pulled her closer to him. She was bolted to the floor, immobilized as he crushed her to his chest._

_That same choking fear she had come to loathe lurched up her throat. She bunched up her skirt in her fists, breaths coming out short and quick. She had the sudden urge to slap his hands away and cower in her room._

_She swallowed the impulse. She would not let this weakness get the better of her – not now, not ever._

_Pulling away far too early, most likely due to her unresponsiveness, Maka quickly dragged him back to her and clutched the back of his shirt, holding her breath. Despite the fear, this felt right. She liked it, yet there was always that yank; that string that tightened around her heart and pulled her back from what she craved the most._

_When he wrapped his arms back around her, tighter than before, she released the breath she had been holding. _

"_Maka..."_

"_I'm sorry." She whispered into his shoulder. "The reason I got caught off guard like that was because Tsubaki was setting me straight. Again. I'm sorry."_

"_Again?"_

"_I'm stubborn." Maka mumbled. _

"_Got that right." Soul snorted. His fingers ran down her back gently. "So, are you ever going to tell me what had been bothering you this entire time?"_

_Maka was quiet for a second before saying, her weary smile palpable in her words: "You're gonna' laugh. It's that dumb."_

"_No, I won't."_

"_Yes, you will."_

"_I won't – just tell me." Soul insisted, pulling back slightly to catch a glimpse of her expression. "Maka, just tell me." It was the desperation in his voice that made her say it; the sincere want to understand her that lit in his eyes._

"_I—I'm scared of love. I think I have philophobia." Maka stated, stunning him silent. She swallowed a breath. This had to be said or else misunderstandings would arise again. She didn't think she could bear to lose him for real. "I guess the trauma of having to watch my mama and papa slowly drift apart before their divorce affected me more than I thought it would..."_

"_Leave it to that stupid old man to fuck up something without actually being here in the first place." Soul darkly murmured, rubbing a hand down her arm in comfort."Philophobia, huh? Never heard of it."_

"_It was fear I felt, so I looked it up and found that. It fit the description..." She mumbled, resting her cheek against his shoulder again. Perhaps if she had been less perceptive when she was younger, if she hadn't noticed her mama always closed the door to her bedroom when she cried, she wouldn't have let it get to her so much. __She would have been able to dismiss her mama's words and she would have never even had to go through the heartbreak for such an absurd reason as being afraid to love someone..._

"_Hey." Soul's voice pulled her from her thoughts. "Stop thinking about it. You're gonna' do something stupid again."_

_She scowled. "Who's going to do something stupid again?" She pulled on his ear, twisting it until he hissed and surrendered to her. "Well?"_

"_No one!" Soul groaned. "I didn't say anything! I swear! You heard wrong—Maka!"_

_Maka harrumphed and let him go, her hand absently pressing against the wound running down her side. "You should probably go pick up the medication. I think the morphine is fading."_

"_Whoa, Stein hooked you up on the good stuff, huh? Lucky." _

"_It's for the pain, Soul." Maka dryly replied._

"_Take a joke, Maka." He answered, just as dry._

_Maka smiled at their banter; this was probably their first decent conversation in weeks. She was glad for the sudden switch in atmospheres, as she made her way to her room with Soul hovering close by. _

"_I can walk to my room, Soul. I fractured a rib, not a leg." Maka grumbled, sitting on her bed. She rubbed her eyes out in exhaustion. "Getting up from bed tomorrow is going to be difficult. I can barely stretch." She kicked off her other boot and scooted further in the bed, lifting her legs onto the mattress._

"_Suck it up, because sleep is all you're going to be doing for a while." _

"_I know." Maka sighed._

_Soul watched, with some morbid amusement, as his meister made the strangest facial expression when she tried to lay down on her bed. Eventually, tired of watching her fail at laying down without bothering her wounds, Soul reached down to help her and managed to get her settled into bed without incident._

"_Try not to move so much." Soul instructed, hand resting on her shoulder. "I'll be back in twenty minutes tops, just sit still until then. Do you need anything? A glass of water or something?"_

"_No." Maka shook her head, breathing out carefully. Her side was burning; every stitch alight with fire. "I'm okay. I'm just really tired." She'd actually rather take a shower to wash all the grime and blood off her body, but she was too weak to try something like that. It also wasn't wise to bathe with fresh wounds._

_She was sure this would be the end of their reconciliation._

_She was sure later they would work out their relationship, if they would get back together or not, but for the time being she'd have to deal with the uncertainty and the pain from her wounds._

_But he surprised her, showing her yet again that Tsubaki's small claims had been correct. There was a certain amount of restraint when he neared her, when his breath feathered her lips. His hand on her shoulder held her in place but she couldn't help to notice how his fingers dug into her skin to keep them from trembling. _

_She wasn't sure who leaned in first until she realized how much she had missed this. She had missed his touch terribly, the tenderness of each kiss that she'd rejected to torture herself with ancient memories; with a fear that could be easily controlled once she realized there was nothing to fear in the first place. __She missed tangling her fingers in his hair, and she missed the way his hand would trace down her body and draw patterns on her skin; never able to stay put in one place for too long._

"_You were right," Soul breathed, while she tried to catch her breath, "that was a stupid reason to break up. If you had only come to me, you would have realized that I love you too – maybe even more than you think I do."_

_Maka threw her arms around his neck, to hide the shaky smile that had crawled on her lips. "Soul..."_

"_Yeah?"_

"_Ouch – you're hurting the bruise on my arm!" She yelped, and he quickly retracted his hand from her arm. "Now it's going to look worse than before!" She whined. "Watch where you're holding me, I'm wounded here!"_

"_Shut up, now you're just messing with me." Soul laughed when she snorted. He placed his knee gingerly on the edge of her bed to hold himself up, hovering over her. "You don't have to be afraid." Soul softly said. "I won't hurt you. I'll never hurt you, Maka."_

_She watched the ceiling distantly, his words resounding in the dark reaches of her mind. She felt that choke in her throat, the one that threatened to suffocate her, again. She realized she felt terrified again; she realized this was what she had felt when she discovered just how much she actually loved him. Fighting down this particular fear would be harder than she first thought, Maka realized._

"_Don't say it." Soul told her, finally understanding the shaking he had felt before their break up hadn't been because she was cold but because she had been scared. It was strange, to discover that his meister's weakness was love, but it was not unexpected._

_He always knew she was messed up from her parents divorce and her father's philandering ways – he just hadn't known how much until now._

"_You don't have to say it." Soul gently told her. "I get it now."_

_Maka bit her lip, some of her fear fading with his reassuring words._

* * *

Soul had left her alone after kissing her forehead, and he had calmly walked out of their apartment to reach his motorcycle. There, he had brutally revved it on, and headed for Shibusen with dark intentions sifting through his blood colored eyes.

Fury made his teeth grind; dig into his lip and slice open skin.

He stormed into Shibusen and headed directly for the Death Room, deciding that heading to the Dispensary to pick up her pain pills could wait.

He had a bigger, more important, issue to deal with at the moment.

Lord Death had greeted him with some surprise at his abrupt visit, his voice jolly and cheerful as usual.

But Soul had been feeling far from cheerful.

He felt murderous.

* * *

"_Where's Spirit?" Soul demanded, his jaw taut as he tried to reign in his fury. It would do him no good if Lord Death refused to reveal his location because he was too riled up._

"_Spirit? Hmm, he was around here somewhere..." Lord Death checked around him curiously. "Spirit! Soul-kun is here to see you – it appears there is something urgent he must speak to you about!"_

_Spirit stumbled out from behind Death's Mirror, dusting his suit with an annoyed frown marring his face. "Soul? What the hell is that octopus head doing here this late?" Anger made his blue eyes brighter. "Wait a second – SOUL! You little shit, I have a bone to pick with you—!" Spirit was cut off when Soul grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and slammed him against the Death Mirror, cracking it into spiderwebs that reflected his rage in fractures._

"_Oh, my." Lord Death quietly commented from behind._

"_You son of a bitch!" Soul spat. He shoved him further up the mirror, shock etched on the Deathscythes face. "This was all your fault, you know? You're fucking lucky I fixed it before it ruined us even more!"_

"_Wh-what the hell are you talking about?" Spirit sputtered. He added, furiously: "And don't you dare speak to me like that, Soul Eater, respect your elders—!"_

_Soul slammed him against the mirror again. Shards of glass fell to the ground from the force. "Respect is the last thing you're going to get from me, asshole!" _

"_Soul-kun." Lord Death's calm voice drifted from behind him. "Please let Spirit go. Would you care to explain what he has done to infuriate you so much? There is no need to use violence when words are enough."_

_He didn't reply. He'd rather punch Spirit's face in until it became like the mirror but he knew he was acting irrationally. He knew he was acting very uncool right now. Casting Spirit one last withering look, Soul dropped him and stepped back. His hands clenched reflexively at his sides._

"_Yeah, what the heck have I done to you, you brat?" Spirit grumbled, fixing his tie. He dusted glass dust from his suit. "I haven't even spoken to you in weeks! Oh, that reminds me, is it true that you're going out with my daughter? Because if you are, I'm gonna beat the shit out of you—!"_

"_Bring it on!" Soul eagerly said, wanting nothing more than a reason to fight him. Sadistic glee made his grin disturbing. "I'll hand your ass to you any day, old man!"_

_Spirit's cheeks pinked with rage. "Why, you—!"_

"_Spirit, stop it." Lord Death sharply commanded, not unfamiliar with the bloodlust that sparked in Soul's eyes."This is not a time to be saying idle threats. Whatever Soul is angry about, it's serious, and it has to do with your daughter..." He trailed off curiously._

_Spirit blinked and sobered. "What about my Maka? What happened—you better not have done anything to her, you bastard, or so help me I'll be sure to send you to the infirmary with broken bones!"_

"_Like I said, bring it on." Soul hissed._

"_Spirit!" Lord Death bellowed, voice darkening several shades. "Stop it, now."_

"_Yes, sir." Spirit sulked, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly. "Alright, enough of all this talk. What's the big deal, Soul? And what does this have to do with me?"_

"_Maka just recently came back from a mission, severely hurt." Soul began, flatly. If there was one thing he could do right, it was concealing his emotions behind a mask of indifference._

"_Oh, my, is she alright?" Lord Death inquired, sounding concerned. "I do believe she was not due until tomorrow."_

"_She's fine. Stein patched her up." Soul answered, blankly._

_Resisting the urge to fret over his little girl's health, Spirit continued through his teeth: "I'll ask you again: what does this have to do with me?"_

"_She was hurt like that because she was thinking about our break up."_

"_YOUR _WHAT_—!"_

"_And because she discovered she has a phobia and it's all your fault." Soul deadpanned._

"_Ph-phobia?" Spirit blinked, confused. He knew what the word meant but it was strange to associate fear with someone as courageous as Maka Albarn. Maka was famously known for overcoming her fears; but, according to Soul, she had one which she could not overcome? "What type of phobia?"_

"_Philophobia."_

_Spirit stared, uncomprehendingly._

"_Ah, I understand now." Lord Death spoke up, sagely. "Maka-chan has a fear for love, does she?"_

_Taken aback, Spirit stammered: "A phobia for loving someone? My Maka? Th-there's no way..."_

"_This may be troublesome." Lord Death hummed, thoughtfully. "It is not a secret that insanity feeds off of a persons fear, exploiting it and causing the person to go mad from it in some cases. If Maka-chan has a fear of loving, why, that may be the most terrible insanity there is. A troublesome one to fix, as well..."_

"_But, how is this all MY fault?" Spirit helplessly asked, not getting the picture._

"_It's all YOUR fault because YOU were the one who fucked her up so much when she was younger by cheating on your wife and lying to them!" Soul sneered. His words chilled him. "You were the one who kept telling her all of those lies!"_

"_I am NOT lying when I say I love her, _Evans._" Spirit coldly hissed._

_Soul grinned sarcastically in reply. "Yeah, it must be GREAT to be told your dad loves your mom and then you find him making out with some WHORE!"_

_He paled. "I—!"_

"_You're lucky I haven't broken your face yet__, Deathscythe." Soul continued coldly. His knuckled popped. "You traumatized Maka to the point where she can't even have a healthy relationship with someone because she's terrified what YOU did to YOUR wife will happen to her! I don't know all the details, but I will soon." He promised, fiercely._

"_Wh-what about you? You're not too innocent yourself if Maka broke up with you! And with good reason, too!" Spirit argued, desperate to regain control of the conversation. "You did something to her, and I swear I'll kill you myself if you cheated on her!"_

"_Ironic, coming from the likes of you." Soul sneered. "But, no. She broke up with me because she was afraid of LOVING ME."_

_Spirit stared. "What?"_

"_You heard me, you—!"_

"_Now, now, Soul, you're still on school premises. Watch your language." Lord Death placidly said, drifting towards them. "It seems that your philandering ways have finally caused some permanent damage, Spirit. Although, the divorce from Kami was damaging in itself..." He mused, continuing: "This is something you are going to have to fix, and soon. I can't have the best meister in my school detained from progress because of this."_

"_Forget it – I'll take care of her myself." Soul flatly decided. "I think she's been hurt enough. There's no need to keep rubbing salt on her wounds."_

_Spirit's face had drained of any color at those words; at how Lord Death did not even try to deny them._

_"If I catch him thirty feet near Maka, he won't be visiting his little clubs for a long time." He turned to leave, slipping his hands back in pockets. His expression was schooled into careful calm. "I just came by to say that."_

"_Wait! __Wh-where are you going? You can't just leave—SOUL EATER!"_

"_I have get to the Dispensary to pick up her medication." Soul ignored Spirit. He took a deep breath, quelling his rage. He needed to keep it cool. He needed to hold it together. "See ya' later, Lord Death. Sorry about the mirror."_

"_Ah, yes, it's quite __alright. I can get it fixed in no time at all!" Lord Death cheerfully said, clapping his goofy hands together. There was a disturbing stillness that made his pitched voice sound faker than usual. "Good night, Soul! Tell Maka to get better soon for me, will you? Oh, she's also excused from school until her wounds heal completely! No need to add to her suffering, right?"_

_"Right." Soul opened the door, noticing that he had split the skin inside his right palm. His hand must have transformed without his noticing and sliced through. "Night!" _

_He slammed the door behind him, shutting Spirit's guilty gaze along with it._

* * *

**A/N: **Oh, woe! The drama. I know this style of story-telling is a little funky, but I like it. I think it makes the experience a little more original lol

I think I broke the reply button from listening to _Black and Yellow by The Used _so much o.o

On a lighter note, I may be posting a new Soul Eater story soon. That's right, not one-shot collection (because god knows I have made _so many _of those...), but an actual story. It's AU, I'll tell you now, but I believe you all will like it. Safe to say it's basically finished XD I've been working on this for the past few days, which is why my updates have been slow. I got really into the story and I know myself enough that if I stifle my inspiration, it disappears forever. Expect it up soon, after I finish editing a few scenes and all that good stuff...

_Scarlett._


	4. Remedy

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Remedy _by Bird York.

**Soul Bond  
by. **_Poisoned Scarlet_

* * *

**4  
**_remedy_

* * *

_"Idiot, give me that." Soul muttered, taking the package of grapes from her hand. She watched him shift his hand into the tip of his scythe and slice through the bag effortlessly, allowing the strip of plastic to fall to the floor. He bent down to pick it up when he caught her warning look._

_"You didn't have to do that!" Maka snatched the bag of grapes from him. "I could have opened it on my own!" _

_"Yeah, well, you were taking too long." Soul stealthily stole two grapes from her. He tossed one into his mouth. "And I'm hungry."_

_"You're always hungry."_

_"Bite me." Soul automatically said, tossing another grape into his mouth._

_"I could do more than biting, Soul." Maka boldly said, causing him to stiffen up while she innocently chewed on her grapes; putting emphasis on the way she ate them, rolling them around in her mouth with her tongue, and taking particular relish in the way he stared before looking away and scowling heavily._

_"Tease."_

_"I have no idea what you're taking about." Maka frankly told him, biting on a grape and licking away the excess juice that ran down her lip._

_The corner of his lip twitched and she noticed his hand fisted by his side, eyes shifting away from her. He turned toward the door immediately, his voice controlled as he said: "I have to use the restroom."_

_"Mm. Take your time." Maka stifled a laugh when he stopped midstep and looked over his shoulder, with a wry grin at her knowing tone._

_"Who's the perv now?" Soul challenged, rolling his eyes when she stuck her nose in the air defiantly._

_"I didn't mean it that way - it's not my fault your mind is interpreting everything I say wrong!" Maka told him, matter-of-fact, eating another grape to conceal her giggles when he shot her a look of disbelief._

_"Well, don't worry." Soul smirked, figuring two could play at this game. "I'll be sure to take my time...and keep it down." He winked, laughing when she flushed pink and threw a grape at his backside in retaliation.  
_

* * *

It was strange.

It felt as if those past few weeks of bitter isolation had never been there at all.

Maka spent hours in bed, allowing her wounds to heal under Soul's supervision, mulling over the outcome of that fateful night. Despite the mounting fear, she had been able to swallow her impulses and slowly grow used to the idea of bonding with him to such an intimate level.

It was a good turn-around from bailing or hiding.

Soul was trustworthy.

He had showed her time and time again.

The scar on his chest proved his utmost devotion, and his subtle but powerful gestures showed his willingness to take it at her pace; to _wait _for her until she was ready to take their relationship a step further.

He was likely the one person she _could_ trust with everything. But she had made the mistake of not confiding this rather embarrassing fear with him, of not confiding this one thing – one _very_ important thing – with the one person she should have gone to first and foremost.

What type of person feared _love?_ It was usually the opposite: they craved it.

However, Maka learned from mistakes very well.

* * *

"_I want to go to school." Maka mumbled, her finger tracing the design on his shirt absently. She laid in his bed that day, her fingers marveling his strong chest, while he scoured the library of his iPod idly. "I bet I'm missing out on so much. I've already missed a whole week!"_

"_Big deal. Aren't you, like, a whole twenty chapters ahead?"_

"_Twenty one." Maka corrected, pouting._

"_Well, sor-ry for not knowing just how much of a nerd you are..." Soul mumbled, chuckling when she stabbed a finger into his gut in retaliation. "You'll be fine. Ox drops off your homework every day, so what're you complaining about?"_

_She would have changed the topic at any other time. _

_She would have muttered something else, buried her face in his chest, anything but say what she truly wanted to say. Habit nearly made her utter those empty words, but when she remembered the consequences of keeping it all in, something changed. _

_The terror mixed with fear – terror of losing him, fear of loving him – had to be put to a stop once and for all, she realized with growing confidence. The two clashing emotions that drained her, her unreasonable mind unable to decide which to choose, were hindrances to her progress. _

_Maka didn't like limitations. _

_She didn't like knowing she could either choose terror and strive not to lose him or she could choose fear and preserve what little of herself she still had left._

_There had to be another option; another way she just didn't know of at the moment._

_But she would know soon._

_She'd make sure of it._

"_Studying helps." Maka quietly revealed, still tracing the design of his shirt. She took a short breath to gather her courage again. "It gets my mind off of what I'm feeling. Reading does that, too. That's how I coped with my mama and my papa's divorce." She remembered her bookcase and how it filled to the brim with books less than two months after their separation. "I read, and I stop feeling for a while."_

_Soul dropped his iPod on the pillow and shifted to pull her closer to him. Her fingers no longer able trace the designs on his shirt, she decided to press her palm against his chest and feel the strong pound of his heart. She could feel the scar beneath her palm, stretching down to his hip; a permanent mark of his duty toward her, his devotion. _

_She set her jaw._

_His hand caressed the soft locks of her hair, and she felt a pleasant tremble race down her skin when his fingers combed through the knots from spending the entire day simply laying in bed, allowing her wounds to heal naturally._

"_That's not cool," Soul softly said. "Is that why you read all the time?"_

"_No." Maka said, pausing to think for only a second. "No, that's not it. It's also a hobby, but... when I'm feeling bad, I pick up a book and I can stop feeling what I'm feeling and feel what the characters feel instead. It helps."_

"_Makes sense..." Soul agreed, twirling strands of her hair around his finger. "You should invest in joke books then."_

_Maka blinked, confused. "Joke books?"_

_When Maka looked up to see what he was scheming, she was met with his jagged grin. "Joke books – the ones 'Star steals his lame jokes from. They'll make you feel tons better than that romance crap you always read." He honked her nose, laughing when she glared and tried to wiggle her nose out of his grasp. "That crap will only make you feel worse and being emo is not cool!"_

"_Ugh! Soul! Quit it!" She pinked when her voice came out nasally. "Soul Eater!" She smacked his hand but he didn't relent._

_Soul laughed, giving her nose one last squeeze before stopping. _

_Instead of smacking him again and telling him to quit being a clown like he expected her to, Maka threw her arms around his neck._

"_Maka...?"_

"_Just stay still." She whispered, unable to conceal her relief when she felt none of that bitter fear well in her stomach. She felt safe, not suffocated by her irrational thoughts. It was an improvement, she decided, and she took another quick breath to keep herself calm. She wouldn't let the fear overwhelm her. Not this time._

_"Don't move..."_

_They didn't speak for hours, basking in the comfortable silence between them._

* * *

She was right about Black Star.

She got an earful the next time she met up with him and their friends by the basketball courts, and although Maka had taken it bravely, knowing she _had _technically screwed up, there was only so much she could take from the arrogant man.

* * *

"_The attack was beyond my control – it just happened!" Maka argued, setting her hands on her hips. "When Tsubaki transformed back, I knew immediately she wouldn't be able to continue fighting, so I took them on my own and I got her out of there as fast as possible! You should know better than anyone how quickly fights can get out of hand, so you shouldn't be lecturing me on this!"_

"_Tsubaki could have died." Black Star ground out, tersely. "Weapons are totally useless in their human forms – ", he ignored the collective "heys!" from their weapon friends," – and what pisses me off is that you STILL fought them! You should've gotten outta' there ASAP!"_

"_By the time Tsubaki was down," Maka slowly said, as if speaking to a child, which only caused Black Star to fist his hands into rigid balls, "there was only ONE kishin left! The one that attacked her, you moron! If I had let him go, I wouldn't have heard the end of it from you! Just be happy she's fine and that Stein has new research material to focus on instead of giving us tons of homework!"_

"_But—!"_

"_Black Star." Tsubaki quietly interrupted. Maka noticed Black Star had his fists clenched, jaw taut. Then she realized perhaps being so nonchalant about the entire thing hadn't been the smartest idea. "Maka-chan did everything she could when I was injured. And she has a point: there's always the risk of battles going awry, and the mission we took was highly dangerous as it was. But I'm fine now. Professor Stein even said the scars would heal up by next month!" Tsubaki added, optimistically._

_Black Star pressed his lips together, still displeased, before sighing roughly and turning away from Maka to manage his temper. "Whatever...Oh! I know how we can settle this!" Black Star grinned wickedly and Maka tensed. "Soul, pass me the ball!"_

"_Aw, dude, that's brutal." Soul commented but tossed him the ball. _

"_One on one." Black Star challenged, pointing a finger at Maka. "First one to reach five points wins!"_

_Maka scowled, slapping the finger away. "Don't you know that pointing fingers is rude?"_

_Black Star smirked. "C'mon, bookworm: stow your facts for a few minutes, I'm gonna' run you outta' town with my awesome skills!"_

_Maka's scowl deepened. The jeering twinkle in his eyes made anger tighten in her chest. "You're on, dumbass. I bet I can reach the give points before you can!"_

_Black Star merely cackled. "Whatever – you keep telling yourself that!"_

_"What does the loser have to do?" Liz asked, interested in how this would pan out. She had an idea of who would win but Maka could also step up her game at the last moment; she was unpredictable that way. _

_Black Star thought about it for a moment before shouting: "Loser has to be the others slave for a whole day!" His grin became a smug smirk. "What'd'ya say? You in or out?"_

_It was the confident glint in his eye – the condescending, shit-eating, grin he wore as he said those four last words – that convinced her to take that bold dive._

_Soul's eyes widened at the fiery resolve in his meister's eyes and, before he could protest, Maka snarled: "You're on, Black Star!" and Soul could only slap a hand over his face at the trap she'd blindly walked right into._

* * *

Maka admitted her judgment had been clouded by rage.

Black Star had an uncanny way of getting under her skin. It should have been obvious from the start that the delinquent assassin had something sinister up his sleeve when he challenged her to a basketball game, knowing full-well Maka could not resist such challenges.

She _really _had to work on modernizing her emotions...

And pride, for the matter.

* * *

"_Bring me a soda, slave!"_

"_Don't call me that!" Maka snapped viciously, crushing the can in her hand. _

"_I'll call you what I WANT! You're my slave for the day remember?" Black Star haughtily reminded, and smirked when he saw the can in her hand had cracked and soda was foaming in her fist. "Clean that up and bring me another one, SLAVE!"_

_Livid, Maka hissed: _"_Get it yourself, you ass—!"_

"_Ah, ah!" Black Star held a finger out tauntingly. "A deals a deal, Maka. So – soda?"_

_Maka, with a strength she never thought she had, pressed her lips together to hold in a barrage of unsightly words, and stormed back into the kitchen to retrieve another can of soda. He had humiliated her after she had lost at the courts by making her bow down to him and call him the almighty Black Star. _

_It appeared he had thought of owning a slave one day because he had ranted off a long list of rules she needed to follow directly after._

_She had to refer to him as "My Lord"._

_She could not speak out of turn, she obeyed his every command without fault, and she was not allowed to insult him in any way, shape, or form. If she stepped out of line, he was allowed to punish her, although Soul had stepped in by this point and told him that if his meister bore any injuries when she got home, he'd get him back for it in the worst ways possible. He had gone as far as baring his sharp teeth threateningly, his arm twitching in anticipation to shift into a scythe until Black Star settled down and agreed reluctantly._

_But that should have been the least of his worries: Maka would have punched him again if he tried to execute 'divine punishment' upon her. There was only so much Maka would do for him, having lost the bet and honoring her loss instead of being a child about it, but taking abuse for being rebellious was taking it too far! _

"_Here..." Maka shoved a soda under his nose._

"_Here, what?"_

"_... My—Lord."_

"_That's better." Black Star said, pleased, and popped open his can as he watched Maka seethe with rage."Oh, yeah, go clean my car! It's full of blood and it's stinking up the entire garage!" He snapped his fingers pompously while his weapon, Tsubaki, hid her face in her hands and quietly mourned. "Come on, chop chop! You're wasting daylight, slave, and you've still got a lot to cover before your shift is up!"_

_Maka tasted blood in her mouth as she stomped out the door. _

_She heard Tsubaki mumble, "I'm SO sorry, Maka-chan...", but she ignored it, far too furious with herself and the arrogant boy to heed her sympathies._

* * *

Maka only got to clean the front seats when something weird happened.

She had been rinsing the sponge in the bucket Tsubaki had been kind enough to bring her a few minutes after Maka left; on her haunches, while the evening sun rained down upon her in a golden flush. She had felt the familiar wavelength of her father come stumbling ahead, strangely rigid; not the usual lighthearted, careless, vibe she'd grown accustomed to.

She had looked up, confused and surprised, to find her father standing at the other end of the sidewalk with a deeper slouch than usual. She had risen a brow, wondering just what the heck he was doing, staring at her with his eyes all wide and his mouth slack like an idiot, before he ducked back down the way he came from.

_That_ was unexpected.

Maka had frowned in mild concern, wondering why her father had just run away as if he had seen Stein with a scalpel, but she shrugged it off.

Maybe he had mistaken her for one of his honey's and that girl had been angry at him or something.

The thought made Maka scowl, and she had vigorously scrubbed the leather of the seats until they were squeaky clean.

* * *

"_I HATE Black Star! Why are you still friends with him? He's such a jerk – ARGH I WANNA' KICK HIS FACE INTO THE WALL!" Maka stormed into her apartment, Soul jumping at the sound of her shrill voice. "I'm gonna' shower! I have blood all over me!"_

"_B-BLOOD?" Soul choked._

_Maka rolled her eyes. "Tsubaki and I came back in Black Star's car and, well, we sorta' left a mess behind..." She laughed, nervously._

_Soul's shock shifted to annoyance. "Right. Anyway, it's not my fault you took on that game. You knew you were gonna' lose."_

_Maka gawked at his bluntness. "Some faith you have in me!"_

"_I'm just sayin', Maka, you're not that good at basketball, and Black Star has some skill, soo..."_

"_Ugh! I see how it is! You're a jerk, too! Well, you can GO TO HELL just like Black Star!" Maka screeched, slamming the door to the bathroom in her rage. The frames rattled on the wall, her muffled cursing doing nothing to ease his slight guilt._

"_Crap," Soul sighed, flipping through some channels on the television and settling on watching a slasher flick for the time being._

_He'd deal with her after she calmed down._

* * *

Soul made up with her.

Kind of.

She did forgive him – very vocally, but she forgave him.

Maka thought he cheated, though.

She was sure it didn't count when he practically cornered her in her room after her shower, whispering things that made her face burn while his fingers surreptitiously slid under the hem of her towel to caress the moist skin beneath.

He kept his promise.

It made her feel uncomfortable, when he said it, but she was grateful for every time he did.

Someone loved her.

Someone actually _loved_ her – and that made her feel warm and bubbly.

It made her feel worth while; _special, _even.

Maka would wonder if this was what her mama had felt while her father still loved her and some of her high would falter.

But then she'd remind herself Soul was nothing like her father – would be insulted if compared to him – and the high would be back, just as delirious and incredible as ever.

* * *

_It felt good to be back in her element; to walk down the squeaky clean halls of her school with the familiar weight of books in her arms. Maka took a deep, relieved, breath and exhaled. She cracked her locker open, not surprised to find it empty of any partnership letters, and stored her books inside. Her eyes flashed to her partners locker, which she assumed would have a few love letters and perhaps a partnership letter or two inside alongside his school materials._

_The thought made her purse her lips disapprovingly: girls were sometimes far too persistent. _

_She looked up, closing her locker while she was at it, when she felt a familiar wavelength turn a corner. _"_Pa—!" Maka cut herself off abruptly when her father turned heel and ran the other way without a second glance. "...Papa?"_

_She gripped her bag to her chest, staring after her father with something close to worry, before Soul reappeared from the classroom._

"_Hey, Stein said I had to do extra work 'cause I'm falling behind!" Soul griped, moodily staring at the worksheets. "Man, why'd you tell him I had to keep a B average no matter what? This is such a pain... Maka? You alright?"_

"_Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine." Maka turned to him, dropping her eyes to the worksheets. "Oh, Soul, why are you whining? This is easy stuff! You're lucky he didn't give you any arithmetic!"_

_Soul gawked. "Are you kidding me – no, of course not, I bet this stuff is easy for you...nerd." He mumbled the last bit but hissed when she thumped a book on his skull._

"_Come on, it's late and I have homework to do!" Maka snapped, stalking ahead._

"_You ALWAYS have homework to do!" Soul groaned. He glared at the worksheets in his hand. "Screw it! I'm so not doing this. I'll just bring my grade up later..."_

_Maka had been on the verge of smacking him on the head and forcing him to do them when another, more devious, idea came to her mind. She hadn't thought of it many times, having been convinced keeping him away from her would ultimately result in severe withdrawal, but she was glad the idea had arose in that instant. _

_She had a feeling it would work to her advantage this time._

_A smile crept to her lips, stretching into a smirk, and she casually said: "Fine. Don't do it."_

_Soul stared._

_He didn't believe her at all, somehow. He expected her to hit him, to make him eat dirt because he was being unreasonable again, yet she was allowing him to drop his grade back down to an F and ultimately ruin their Meister-Weapon grade? There had to be a catch, Soul reasoned, they had to be!_

_"But you're not allowed in my bedroom until you do." Maka added, and he froze._

_She heard him choke, as if she'd just told him she would quit training him and move to Alaska, and she felt his incredulous yet panicked eyes burn into the back of her head._

"_...You wouldn't."_

"_I would."_

"_It benefits you, too!" He warned. "May I remind you, you're always the one asking for it?" He added, smug._

"_I can go without it." Maka answered, unfaltering. She even smiled coyly. "I don't know about you, though. There's only so much your hands can do..." She cracked her knuckles, purposely taunting him. She stretched out her fingers provocatively."...compared to mine."_

_Soul swallowed thickly, cursing Maka for playing the no-sex card on him. He had feared one day she would pull it out and it seemed his fears had been confirmed. He wearily wondered what else she would make him do now that she had this great advantage over him before he caved._

"_...Fine, I'll do it." He sighed in defeat. "But only these worksheets!" He added defiantly, for the sake of his cool._

"_Good boy." She giggled, knowing she had won_

_He merely grunted, sparing a cold, sidelong, look to the maroon-haired man who stood far up on the third floor, gazing down at them through the tall windows of Shibusen; expression unreadable._

* * *

Something was wrong with her dad.

She understood that the incident nearly a week and a half ago, when she'd been Black Star's unwilling, begrudging, slave for the day, could have been marked off as a fluke (since he _had_ been rather far away and she wasn't _necessarily_ a kid anymore) but now she couldn't ignore it.

Whenever she rounded a corner and he was coming her way, he froze, wide-eyed, and promptly turned heel and went back the way he came from. The panicked, almost nauseated, expression that crossed his face had been enough to make rage well inside of her before a layer of concern dulled it.

She hardly saw him anymore.

He didn't suck up to her, he didn't hug her, he no longer tried to send her 'good vibes' whenever a test came around, he didn't even LOOK for her anymore!

It annoyed her.

It pissed her off.

She wanted to go right up to him and drop kick him for being stupid again.

It hurt, didn't he know that?

Didn't he know it kind of hurt _a lot?_

* * *

"_Something's wrong with my papa." Maka told Tsubaki, clutching a pair of books to her chest a few days later. "He hasn't spoken to me in weeks... I thought he was just busy with his Deathscythe duties but he's never gone a whole_ three weeks_ without talking to me! And I've seen him around school a lot, too..."_

"_I've also noticed that he has been avoiding you," Tsubaki conceded, sounding concerned. "Could there be a reason for his sudden avoidance of you?"_

"_None that I could think of." Maka grimaced. "The last time I spoke to him, he was squeezing the life out of me and I just Maka Chopped him like I always do. That couldn't have hurt his feelings – I do it all the time..."_

"_Do you think... something provoked him to act in such a way?" Tsubaki cautiously said, a few minutes later. "After all, all of our friends are quite aware of your newly-discovered fear..."_

"_No, that can't be!" But she sounded dubious. "The only ones who know how deep my fear goes is Soul and – and you, Tsubaki. There's no one else!"_

_Tsubaki stayed quiet, gnawing on her lip anxiously._

_Maka realized why a second later._

"_Soul?" Maka repeated, bracingly. "You think Soul had something to do with it?"_

"_Well, he has been quite protective of you ever since you got back together with him." Tsubaki fiddled with the end of her hair, nervously. "I wouldn't be surprised if he had a few words with your father... they've never had the best relationship, either."_

_Maka agreed almost instantly. It suddenly seemed so obvious: of _course_ Soul would attempt something like this! Especially when he discovered that most of her insecurity stemmed back to her parents disastrous divorce, which had been mostly her father's fault for his unhealthy habit of flirting with women._

"_Ah! Maka – look!" Tsubaki suddenly said, pointing ahead. Maka snapped her head in the direction she was pointing to, catching the dark maroon color that was her fathers hair. He froze upon seeing them and hastily turned his heel, heading the other way._

"_Oh, no, you don't!" Maka muttered, pushing her books into Tsubaki's arms and chasing after her father. Tsubaki's frantic cries fell on deaf years for Maka was determined to make her papa speak to her; to tell her exactly what Soul had done to him to incur such a bewildering reaction._

_Whatever Soul had done, Maka thought queasily, it must have been bad if her father was literally avoiding the same ground she walked on._

"_Papa!" Maka shouted. She saw him jump and walk faster. "Papa! Wait!" He ran this time and Maka picked up speed, refusing to lose sight of him. "Papa! Papa!" She saw him turn around a bend and Maka skidded around it, stopping when she saw an empty hall._

_Smarter than to think her papa had gone into one of the classrooms, Maka stared at the door to the boys bathroom. Deciding that reaching her papa was more important than breaking social codes, Maka pushed through the door and sensed her fathers distressed soul emit from within one of the stalls._

"_...Papa?"_

_His jerky squeak made her frown and Maka stopped at the stall at the end of the restroom. She stared at it, unsure if she should just push it open or not. She decided she'd do better if she weren't seeing him and backed away, leaning against the sink. _

"_Papa, why have you been avoiding me?" Maka demanded, after a few seconds of silence. "I thought you were just being weird but every time you see me, you turn the other way..."_

_She was rewarded with a strangled sound, like he wanted to reply but couldn't form the words to do so._

"_Papa... did Soul say something to you?" Maka asked, hesitantly. There would be no use beating around the bush this time: she needed to know what Soul had done and see if the damage was reversible. However much she loathed her papa at times, she was still fond of him. He was still there, despite everything, unlike her mama. At the thought, a terrible clench grasped her heart, and she swallowed back the emotions enough to speak. "Papa...?"_

"_M-MAKAAA!" Spirit finally wailed, and the stall door slammed open._

_Alarmed, Maka barely had enough time to sputter his name before he careened toward her; squishing her in a hug that nearly cracked her ribs. It was obvious that he had been holding back the entire time and Maka felt almost relieved by this usual routine. All she would need now was a book to whack him on the head with and get him off her. But she had handed all her books to Tsubaki to prevent them from holding her back – !_

"_I don't deserve your attention!" Spirit sobbed, rocking her side to side. "He was right – it is my fault! I should've known better than to think it wasn't affecting you! Please forgive me, Maka!"_

"_Papa—papa, what are you talking about?" Maka sputtered, trying to disentangle herself from him._

_He just sobbed louder._

"_PAPA, GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!" Maka smacked him upside the head, which seemed to knock some sense into him for he stopped blubbering out nonsense._

"_I'm sorry." He croaked, sniffling wetly. "Soul was right – I'm HORRIBLE! MAKAA—MMFH!"_

"_Papa, stop! Take a deep breath!" Maka pressed her hand against his mouth, watching her father inhale deeply. "Let it out." He did. "Okay, now that you're calm: what's this all about? What does Soul...have to do with you avoiding me?" She hesitated before continuing: "What did he say to you?"_

_Spirit dropped his eyes. "... Nothing I haven't already known. He just put it all into perspective. Don't be angry at him: he had all the right to remind me that I'm... I'm not the father I make myself out to be." He sighed, heavily. "I've made a lot of mistakes, Maka – I cheated on your mother, I have a lot of girlfriends, and I haven't properly taken care of you since you were ten." He shook his head, sadly. "I just never realized how much my behavior has affected you until... Soul told me."_

_Maka felt panic pound in her chest. The idea that her fear – her phobia – had reached her fathers ears made shame and sharp humiliation seize her lungs. "He... he told you?"_

"_Yes, but he's right!" Spirit quickly said, upon catching her horror. "I'm a horrible father and – and I want to make it up to you!"_

_Maka felt anger flicker beneath her embarrassment. "Make it up to me? And you expect me to believe that?" She scoffed a laugh. "Papa, you've been telling me the same thing for the past seven years! What makes this time any different?"_

"_This time I WILL do it!" Spirit stated, firmly. He grabbed her hands, staring fiercely into her eyes. "I'll get better, Maka... I-It might not happen right away," he cautioned, "but... I can try. I will try. For you. I promise," he added, upon catching her skepticism._

_Maka searched his eyes guardedly, crystalline blue and pleading and honest, and nodded very slightly. _

_He caught it and beamed, crushing her in his arms again; crying tears of joy this time. _

_She wiggled around, choking out things like "Papa! Let go!" and "you're crushing me!" until she managed to deck him in the stomach like old times._

_But the fact that her father may truly quit his habit of getting around hadn't registered in her mind just yet. There was a more pressing thought, a more pressing emotion, that overwhelmed her as her father babbled on and on how he would begin his rehabilitation and how he would make it up to her by buying her as many books as she wanted. _

_The embarrassment still hadn't abated..._

* * *

It burned within her as she had shooed her father back to the Death Room to continue his work.

It weighed on her shoulders as she walked back to where she had last seen Tsubaki, finding her not there (or anywhere around).

It settled in her gut, a block of lead, as she walked home alone for the first time in what seemed to be ages.

And when she opened the door to her apartment, closing it quietly behind her, tears welled in her eyes and began to dribble down her cheeks, the knot in her chest too tight to ignore now.

This fear – this irrational, damnable, fear – was ruining her.

Maka Albarn _wasn't_ weak.

She wasn't easily subdued, put down; _shamed_.

Yet this fear was ravaging her; stomping her down, ruining everything she had worked for. It had nearly broken her bond with Soul, and now it was preventing her from doing anything more than cry like a child.

Crying wouldn't help in anything, she knew all too well.

The problem would still be there when she stopped.

But Soul should have told her he had spoken to her father. He should have consulted this with her – did he not care how she felt about this? Did he not realize that perhaps she didn't want anyone – especially _not _the man who had ruined her childhood – to know just how much it had affected her in her adulthood?

Did he _have_ to totally blow off her feelings in favour of his own selfish ones?

* * *

"_Maka!" Soul called, shutting the door behind him. He tossed his keys onto the table, dropping his backpack on the floor by the couch. There appeared to be no one home but he saw her boots by the couch, as usual, and he knew she had arrived before him. "Maka? Why didn't you wait for me! Tsubaki said you wouldn't take long!"_

_There was no reply._

_Concern twisted his gut._

"_Maka...?" Soul softly called, reaching her bedroom. He pushed the door open, peering inside. She was on her bed, on her side and appeared to be sleeping. But he knew she wasn't. Maka was a light sleeper, always having been the one to keep vigil during missions even during sleep, and his shouts would have awoken her immediately._

_He sat on the edge of her bed, shaking her shoulder. "Hey, what's up?"_

"_...Why didn't you tell me you spoke to papa?" Maka asked quietly, gazing hard at the wall. The hand on her shoulder went rigid and she narrowed her eyes. "Answer me, Soul."_

_He looked away, surly. "Oh, that. I didn't think it was that important—"_

"_You didn't think it was that important?" Maka repeated, furious and in disbelief. She sat up, slapping his hand away. "You – you told him! You told him and you know how I feel about - this! But you still did it and you didn't even TELL me you did!"_

_Soul swore softly under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look, I was pissed off, alright? I wasn't thinking – OW!"_

"_YOU NEVER THINK!" Maka cried out, reaching toward her desk to take another thick book. "YOU NEVER, EVER, THINK!" She threw another one at him, grinding her teeth when it only skimmed the top of his head. "And you end up screwing everything up because of it! Just get out, Soul!"_

"_Maka – hold up, let me explain – !"_

"_NO, JUST GET OUT!" Maka shrieked, too furious and frustrated to do any more than grab another book from the stack on her desk and hope one of them managed to hit bulls eye._

"_You don't understand!" Soul pleaded. He took a chance and grabbed her wrist, forcing her arm down. He placed his knee upon the book held in her hand, holding her straight by her shoulder. "I wanted to hurt him so badly. It was all I could do – you're lucky I didn't cut his throat open!" His fingers dug into her skin. It hurt but she made no sign of discomfort, her own fingers digging into the hardcover of the book. "... I've never wanted to hurt someone as badly as I did that day."_

"_You still could have told me."_

"_I did it without thinking."_

"_You could have told me afterward instead of letting me find out like this." Maka said, coldly. "I would have found out eventually – he was avoiding me, Soul! I would have asked."_

"_Yeah." Soul whispered, suddenly tired. "Maybe I should've told you, but I didn't want to. I just wanted you to stay away from him. I – just wanted you to stop feeling like shit every time he comes around with a new whore on his arm." Soul dropped his gaze, tightening his grip when she only set her jaw. "I can't stand to see you in pain, Maka, I love you too much," he confessed quietly._

_Her breath hitched._

"_That's why I did it."_

_Her throat was tight._

"_Maybe it wasn't cool, but I don't care."_

_Bile rose, muscles paralyzed._

"_Why don't you get it?" He laughed, hoarsely, voice hardly rising above a whisper. "I love you, you idiot."_

* * *

Everyone had tipping points.

Where one simply couldn't stand sitting on the fence anymore; when one needed to pick a side, _any side_, and bravely march forward into the unknown.

Maka would not let this fear overcome her.

She refused.

It would curdle her from the inside out, ruin her, tarnish everything she had ever hoped for and achieved, but she would not allow it.

It was a scary thing, to push past the inky black cloak of the fear that wrapped around her so tightly, but it had to be done.

It was now or never.

And Maka was never one to stall or fall behind.

* * *

"_Soul..."_

_Soul smiled sadly, pressing his lips against her forehead in resignation. "Guess my plan didn't work all that well, huh? My bad. I should've told you... I won't do it again."_

"_Soul—!"_

"_But he better not keep whoring around." Soul added, fiercely. "If I see him paying even one girl to screw him, I'm gonna' knock his lights out! I'll tell you about it later, though – !" He added, hastily._

"_Soul, shut up." Maka sternly said. A soft smile crossed her face. _

_Fear was being shadowed by strength. _

"_What?"_

_She understood now._

_She took a deep breath, heart pounding and palms sweaty._

_She would say what he had been waiting for her to say for such a long time now._

"_I..." She could almost hear him holding his breath. "I love you."_

_He stared, stunned._

"_...What?"_

"_I – love you." Maka repeated, unsurely. Her voice steeled. "I love you – ah!" She squeaked when he pinned her against the bed, burying his face in her neck to hide his euphoria. She felt his grin against her skin, as his hands slid under her arms to press her against him tightly. The shaky sensations ebbed, leaving behind a relief that made her breath out easy as her partner slowly understood the significance of this moment._

"_Say it again."_

_Maka's face flushed, suddenly timid under the soft gaze of her lover. "I... I love you." She squeaked, flinching when she felt his fingers brush down her cheek._

"_Again."_

"_Um...I love you!"_

"_Again!"_

_Maka scowled. "How many more times do I have to say it before you get it?" _

_Soul grinned. "A couple of thousand, give or take." He dodged a smack to his face, laughing when Maka grumbled, red-faced, and tried to push him off of her before things became too serious again. He, however, disallowed her this, and laced his fingers through her own and pinned her hands back. He pushed her up the bed, rumpling her lavender sheets under her while she swallowed down her anticipation._

_"Are you kidding me?" Soul smirked. "After that, you're just gonna' push me away? Not happening."_

"_But, I have homework to do!" Maka squeaked out, breath hitching when his hands slithered under her shirt and picked at the only piece of clothing that blocked access to her breasts. He grabbed her leg, nudging it aside and running his fingers under the sensitive skin behind her knee. "Soul..."_

"_You're five assignments ahead anyway." He reminded her, pushing her skirt up her waist. Her toes curled when he leaned over her, his breath so close to her lips she wondered how she restrained herself from devouring them again. "It won't make a difference if you miss next months homework."_

_Tsubaki's phone calls were ignored for the rest of the evening, as well as the incessant pounding on their front door as Spirit tried to deliver the bulk of books he'd bought in an effort to earn back his daughters affection._

* * *

**A.N: **This is the end, people! It may sound a little abrupt but I think this is a good spot to just stop since, really, there isn't anything else I can add that wouldn't be boring. Well, at least to me it'd be boring xD

I know I didn't update for a long time but that's what happens when you have no pre-written chapters and not enough time on your hands. I usually have all the chapters, or at least the majority, written before I post a new story. It ensures that I don't dump the story half-way through, which is great for you guys! :D

_Scarlett._


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